The Tale of Micah Bennett
by Fiction-stalker supreme
Summary: I remember being born. A strange experience that I have been trying to forget. But it's becoming easier the more time I spend in this world. My world? No. It can't be. I have vague recollections of being alive before. I have recollections of watching all these people around me live and die. AU OC Self-insert.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"_Motus." _The words were said with a clear picture in mind: The pillow lifting from the edge of the bed and rising to a gentle hover.

My breath hitched and my heart began beating faster as though I was taking part in a fervent run before the pillow shot up with more force than had put behind it and jerking to a stop; a breath that had been unknowingly held was let out.

At least I'm a witch…No, the sound just didn't register correctly. I searched my mind. Rifling through the few memories I still had of my past life: some witches had called themselves warlocks. It wasn't a term that was a norm but within the confines of this universe it wouldn't get any raised eyebrows.

Raised eyebrows were something I was trying very hard to avoid. Questions could be asked and with magic, no one would expect that I had been reincarnated and was the rightful owner of a body of a Bennett witch. Micah, they called me, a name that was easy to accept because of how hard it was to remember who I had been. The feeling was the strangest. I couldn't remember anything of life and yet the fifth season of a show that had been named Vampire Diaries was groggily clear in my mind.

I knew of the doppelgangers, the Originals and other things which, for a few more years, wouldn't come to be. They could also not ever come to be because of the damned thing called the Butterfly Effect; I was the external factor that could throw a wrench in the works of continuity, everything I did would have a consequence that I couldn't predict. A scary prospect when I began thinking about the dangers that existed, the crazy and vengeful Originals, the witches of the French Quarter—a place I would not touch with a kilometre long pole—and, most scary of all, Silas and Qetsiyah.

A shake of the head cleared my mind of the thoughts. All those were concerns of the future, in the mean time I would prepare for their eventuality; I could remember Bonnie dying, spending months on the Other Side watching her friends in dull agony. We had spent five years together, she as my sister and I as her brother, but the impressions were strong. I could admit without hesitation that I loved her.

Which meant I would have to get strong with the two spells I could remember

My focus returned to the spell I had running: A connection existed between me and the pillow, a thin line that meant my spell was still running. The feeling was strange and the power I held over the pillow was hypnotic; with the connection still spread-out between it and me an instinctive part of myself knew it would bend to my will. As a test I told the pillow to move further up into the air and it followed the direction without resistance, down and it did, to the left, to the right—

At the furthest edge of my mind I could hear a scream. Bonnie, my mind provided. Next there were a series of questions I couldn't answer as my head pounded, hit by the force of a disembodied hammer. There were worried voices all around me, more questions before I let myself succumb to the darkness and away from the pain.

When I next woke, it was to the sound of an incessant beeping and the strong stench of disinfectant. Hospital, that much was easy enough to tell, but why was I here in the first place. I opened my eyes, briefly looked side-to-side only to come to an empty room.

Magical exhaustion? It couldn't be. The spell had been minor, a pillow raised. Why would that lead me to magical exhaustion? I was seven, that was relatively weak in terms of power but did it really mean that one spell could send me to the hospital?

The thought was terrifying. Truly so. It brought about a new sense of danger to learning magic and it explained why Grams had waited until Bonnie was a teenager before teaching her about our line. A groan I hadn't meant came out. The prospect that had been exciting about the entire ordeal of being reincarnated was that I could do magic; maybe it was some left over longing from my past life to be special, but magic opened up a whole new domain.

My mind was abuzz over all the ways I could exploit my powers, ways to make money and cheats to make myself powerful enough to take on an Original without flinching. Of course this wasn't about to come true because of my stupid young body.

"Finally," the voice startled me, embarrassing because I might have shrieked in surprise. I heard a chortle and my head whipped to the side.

"Grams." My voice was filled with equal parts excitement and trepidation. The woman was her usual self, straight-backed and looking at me with a look that scared me; her eyes had the general feel that they knew the secrets to the world, that she knew the parts of me I was hiding and found it amusing that I hadn't outright told her already. "What are you doing here?"

Stupid question, but my mind was a plaything of the body; chemicals in my body making be a lot more flustered than I mentally felt. I took a large gulp of air and tried to take control; think everything through before I let one word pass through my lips.

"My grandson in hospital," she said. "Did you think I wouldn't come here running?"

I shrugged. Grams, though I found her quite likeable, was scary. She knew witch things I couldn't hope to know; she knew about the spirits on the Other Side and the power they held. If she found out about me, that I had the vague sense of having a life before this, she would think I was some spirit that had possessed her grandchild. She wouldn't think me Micah anymore.

I couldn't have that.

"Dad told you I was here?" Grams and Dad didn't get along. There had always been a tension between them but it had gone up to another level when mom had left. At the back of my mind I knew why she had left, something to do with Mikael, but there was still that longing within me for a mother.

Knowledge of the future sucked in that respect, especially when it was combine with a body that was just getting into the stride of its own workings.

"Bonnie," Grams said, not in answer so much as in thought. "She was in quite the state when you wouldn't wake. Your father, the sensible man he is, got you here quickly. They found nothing wrong with you, however, but with all the blood they found seeping through your nose, it was clear that something was wrong. Your father called me."

"Why would he do that?" I asked, but the sinking feeling in my stomach worried me. "You're not a doctor."

"I think you know," said Grams and the sinking feeling settled. She knew…No, I'm jumping to conclusions, I thought, quickly cutting off the panic that started my small heart. Whatever she knows isn't what I'm most hiding. It could be something else. Like the small fact that I was practising magic, on my own, without any instruction whatsoever.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, Grams," even to my own ears my voice wavered, growing a much higher pitch. Damned body.

She snorted. "Work on your lies, boy," she said, sounding amused. Good sign at least. She wasn't going to perform some spell on me because of some mistakes. The smile from still took me off guard though. "You know about magic don't you?" she asked. "About our line?"

Tell or don't tell. To lie would show that I didn't trust her; which I did, but I also trusted her to overreact. Tell the truth, I thought, that you're a wit—warlock, doesn't mean you did something wrong. I could say I heard the spell from my mother, she wouldn't rebuke the comment after all.

"Yes."

Grams smiled further before she frowned. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Be proud of your ancestry. It is a gifted granted to you by Nature." She took a breath. "But you should have come to me first before you started experimenting. Magic, especially for one so young, is a dangerous thing."

I frowned. "I can't practise can I?" and I couldn't hide my dejection.

"You will," she told me, her hand engulfing mine. "But right now, you're too young." I sniffled and the lines between my body and my mind became blurred. I felt myself slipping and becoming locked away. "Your father's worried," I heard Grams saying at the edges of consciousness. "Magic isn't something he's ever liked, but for you to be practising so early after your mother disappearing. Unfortunately he's seen fit to hold me to a promise. I can't teach you until you're at least sixteen; which means what you've learnt so far needs to be locked away. Where you can't reach until it's the right time."

There was a clang of metal and bars appeared in all directions. I felt myself bound, chains holding me into position. Movement began restricted as I tried to fight, worked my hardest to unravel the chains. Nothing came of it as the magic holding me in place fought harder to keep me. Sometime through it all a screen appeared in front of me, a window to the outside. I watched for moments with a sense of detachment as my mind tried to fill in the blanks, as it worked itself to form a facsimile of myself and had it playing the part of me.

A feeling of betrayal overwhelmed me as I took it all in; that my grandmother had cursed me, sealed off my knowledge of magic at my father's request, a conspiracy that made no sense. The image would move, changing as the days passed and I watched my life from afar. Grams couldn't have known this would happen, couldn't have known that I had known of magic since the second I was born—quite literally, an experience I'm happy I forgot—and therefore how far this spell would lock away my mind.

But the betrayal was something of an ache I couldn't get over. Two days passed in my prison before Bonnie noticed the changes. She questioned them, questioned me with a focused look I wasn't used to seeing on her face, and the facsimile could only answer that he didn't know what she was talking about. Just enough of me that those who didn't know me well wouldn't know the difference.

I got back to fighting. Trying to pull myself from the chains but they wouldn't budge; a year spent between watching and thinking and fighting before the inevitable feeling on hopelessness overtook me. This was my prison. It had been right for me to fear Grams because she was what I was not. She was powerful. A witch who lived longer than me and in that time accumulated knowledge I couldn't even comprehend at this point.

It was my plan to learn though, a part of me whined. I would learn and I would be the most powerful warlock to exist, maybe get myself on par with the greats like Silas and Qetsiyah. But now that dream would have to wait until I reached sixteen. The only answer was to wait it out. I didn't know the counter-spell much less have the power to invoke it without me being knocked out at best or dying at worst.

I waited and watched my life from afar.

My hands jerked and the car swerve to the right. Memory upon memory fighting for a place as two distinct personalities fought. Two minds that were so separated by time that they couldn't co-exist. One was younger, having lived a good life in its nine years of true consciousness, the other much stronger having fallen through a plethora of depressive states as it had to watch an imposter spent time with it family.

I fought with vigour, taking the facsimile in every respect. I changed it without mercy, turning the memories it thought were its own into mine. Mere moments passed and I had the upper hand; I had the life I had been supposed to live and it was left with nothing. Another moment and it disappeared into the recesses of my mind, locked in a prison that would ensure its death.

Eyes that hadn't seen the world in nine years blinked and I relished the heavy beating of my hurt, the hand clutching my arm for dear life and the terrified expression on my older sister's face—six minutes I will never live down, damned laziness. I let out a relieved laugh that soon turned to tears; the near accident meant nothing when compared to the fact that I was free.

"Hey," Bonnie said, her voice flickering in fear. "What was that?"

I didn't answer. Couldn't answer because my laugh had turned crazed and maniacal. It encompassed all the relief a person could feel, far more than anyone should have in one bout in all honesty but it was the hardest thing to care. My hands moved of their own volition, unclipping the seatbelt before I jumped, arms engulfing Bonnie in a crushing hug.

The next few hours were blur. There were words spoken, one-sided from Bonnie's part, and I might have cried at some point during it all, when I came too I was in hospital being looked over with Bonnie's hand held like a lifeline. Dad was with her too, but there was resentment there, I couldn't look at him the same way I had a long time ago. My mind kept repeating one thing, he was one of the reason for my hell.

"—ny pain?" the doctor was asking. I knew her name but with the memories still finding their places I couldn't decipher it.

I shook my head. "I'm fine," I said my eyes not leaving Bonnie. It was one thing to watch her grow up, but it was another to see it up close.

The doctor sighed. "Well, as far as I can tell there's nothing wrong," she said. "But we'll be running tests nonetheless."

"Thank you," Dad said taking to his feet and shooting a worried look my way. This is your fault, I thought, but there wasn't much heat. I had missed in him even as I had come to loathe him; feelings that didn't make any sense, but really, what sense was there in being human?

"Could you give us a moment?"

The doctor nodded and left, a clipboard in hand. Dad let out a long sigh. He ran a hand over his head and took a seat.

"It's happened hasn't it?" he muttered, more to himself than Bonnie or me. She didn't know yet, the memories told…no, she knew there was something odd about her, the unexplained feelings she often felt and sometimes the vague visions the she and the facsimile had pushed aside. "The memories have returned," Dad clarified, turning to look at me with sad eyes.

I gave a nod, my hand closing tighter around Bonnies. I vaguely noticed it was larger, its complexion a slight darker. Dad let out another sigh.

"Memories?" Bonnie asked. "What's Dad talking about?"

I looked at Dad for permission, but then I remembered the feelings of subservience that had come with youth were almost gone. "I figured out something I wasn't supposed to when we were five. I tried something that was over my head and to protect me, Grams took my memories away," it was hard achieving the emotionless quality to my voice, but my body and mind were beginning to come in synch. There were still impulse, for the life of me I couldn't turn away the thoughts of making out, but it was easier to think when I was no longer a child.

"Took your memories?" Bonnie asked. "How?"

"With magic," I said. Dad cringed at the words, looking as though he was in physical pain. Bonnie snorted, a look of disbelief on her. She let out a chuckle as she turned from me to Dad before returning back to me.

The maniacal bout of laughter seemed to be a family trait because she let one loose. "You're serious," she said after a moment. "Magic isn't real," after another moment. "It isn't," she said when there was silence, vehemently shaking her head. "Magic," she said with a disbelieving chuckle. "So that makes us what, witches?" She was met by silence. "Oh god I'm a witch."

It was strange but I couldn't relate, being twins didn't make us the same person, this was true, but there should have been some similarities. Where she sounded disgusted the realisation, that I had powers had thrilled me. I could enforce my will upon the world and I somewhat knew the cheat sheets, there was nothing greater. But to Bonnie, those thoughts meant nothing. She was scared by the power granted to her by Nature, by a lineage many would be proud of.

What did you expect though, a part of me intoned; you're fundamentally different by the mere fact that before this, before your imprisonment, you had another life, a mundane life. Relating to her would be very hard, especially taking into account the mental age difference.

I pushed the thought aside. My sister needed me. "Hey," the soft quality that my voice took was unfeigned. Bonnie looked into my eyes. "_We're_ witches," I said. "_We're_ going to go through all this together."

My words brought her a measure of comfort but she was still worried.

"We're witches," she said. "What does that mean?"

Both of us looked at Dad at for different reason; Bonnie was confused and vulnerable at this moment, looking for a form of authority and I was looking at the man who had stopped by early progress. The memories were foggy, but the general feeling stayed true; Dad was afraid of magic. If there was anyone who would stop us from training in our witchy ways it would be him. Well he would try to at least. An opportunity like this wasn't something I was about to pass on, this feeling only further exacerbated by the feeling of betrayal.

"Your grandmother," said Dad and again he was cringing almost in physical pain.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"How did you find out?" Bonnie asked.

"I overheard mom once," I said with a shrug. It was the surest bet of something which couldn't be checked out. Talking about her reached at my heartstrings but it had to be done. "She must have been practising or something, because she was stringing Latin words together. I managed to catch one, Motus, and I thought it sounded close to motion. It was childish but I tried it out and it worked," I grinned at this before I frowned. "Before I found myself in hospital that is."

"I remember that," said Bonnie. "It was also the day when," she paused, deciding something before shaking her head. "I guess that's when they took away you memories?"

"Yeah."

"How was it? Having your memories gone?" she asked.

"It's weird," I said with a shrug. "Then, I didn't even realise it." Which was true, at least from the facsimile's perspective. It hadn't understood clearly why it had been in the hospital, of course Grams had filled it in with saying it had slipped in the shower and hit its head. "But all of a sudden it hit me. Everything just suddenly made sense, especially the strange things you've begun to deal with."

"The visions and feelings are part of being a witch?"

I shrugged. "Grams didn't really tell me much about what we could do. She just…"

"Took your memories," said Bonnie softly. "How are you dealing with that?"

I took a moment, mulling over, trying to get a feel of my emotions. "I'm angry," I admitted. "Betrayed. Some part of me wants revenge. I'm a mess right now."

She took my hand, giving me a smile. "We'll get through this."

"At least we got to get out of school for this right?" The smile was forced and I'm sure Bonnie could see it was false, but she didn't say anything, only letting out an unladylike snort before her expression sobered.

"Elena is going to kill me," she said looking wide-eyed. "We were supposed to pick her up."

I winced. "Yeah, she's going to kill you. Call her. I'll show you the trick that got me in the hospital."

She got to her feet, pulling her phone from her pocket and beginning the call. The moment she was out was the moment I chose to test whether or not my endurance had increased. I took a firm hold of my pillow and threw it across the room before giving it a firm glare; focusing entirely on the pillow and to make it hover.

"Motus."

It wasn't as before. I felt power leave me and a connection form between me and the pillow before it slowly rose into the air and stopped in a gentle hover; a breath out and I focused, hoping that I had awareness enough of my own body that I might be able to feel it when unconsciousness came closer.

Up. Down. Left. Right. The pillow followed the instructions without resistance and I hadn't knocked myself out. How to sever the connection? Everything seemed to have a mental component, maybe stopping the spell was like cutting the connection I felt between the both of us. It worked. The pillow dropped, succumbing to the effects of gravity.

"Holy hell that is amazing." I jerked. Bonnie was at the door, mouth agape and staring. The pillow dropped.

Note to self: Situational aware is shoddy when entranced in a spell. I would have to start working on that.

Bonnie rushed into the room, closing the door with a bang and taking a seat beside me. "Teach to do that," she said with infectious enthusiasm.

"Okay," I took a breath and tried to order my thoughts. It made sense why most witches kept detailed journals of their spells; there was the obvious of a way to remember all the spells you had in your personal collection, but also the unique quality to spellcasting. "Focus is the first part and effect is the second. I focus entirely on the object I want to effect, picturing the effect in mind before saying the incantation."

Bonnie took another pillow and threw it to join the other; she took a breath and glared. "What was the incantation?"

"Motus."

"Okay," she said taking another breath and a look of intense focus appearing on her. A minute passed before she spoke the spell. Nothing happened. She frowned and it took me a moment to figure out that I was frowning too. "What am I doing wrong?"

"We're different," I said after a moment. "Maybe how we do spells is different too? Why don't you tried gesturing at it with your hand where you want it to move or you could start with something smaller?"

"I can do this," said Bonnie. "Focus, effect then incantation," she muttered. Her hand rose, palm pointing at the pillow. Her lips were about to move, but it was already done, the pillow rising from the ground as though carried by a gentle wind. She smiled and I felt oddly jealous.

"Nonverbal," I muttered. Wasn't that supposed to be impossible save for when Expression was concerned? The details were screwy in my mind, the only thing I still remembered from the shows were the big details, those that stuck, and the first few seasons I was at a complete blank.

Maybe Bonnie was a natural at this. The Bennett women were the most powerful witches in the series after all, maybe to them magic came naturally, they could feel the flow of things better than their male counterparts. After all I remembered vaguely it being said that they felt Nature, felt their environment, and such feelings not being true for me.

Did Nature know that I was something of an invader? Was this her way of restricting me from using magic? No, that didn't make any sense. As proof by the whole Mikaelson debacle Nature was about showy gestures. Breaking known her own laws and finding loopholes was showy in and of itself.

If she had wanted to, she could have just made me a squib.

She didn't, which made me think that maybe there was a plan for me.

My thoughts were interrupted by Bonnie. "How much do you think we can lift?" she asked. "I felt a rush and slightly tired from the spell, will that get worse the more an object weighs?"

I shrugged. "I haven't had time to experiment yet," I told her. "But it's something I'm going to do the first chance I get. First though I'm going to guilt trip Grams into giving us at three more easy spells."

Bonnie sobered and her pillow thudded softly on the ground. "Grams knows about all this," she said and she snorted. "It's hard to imagine. I thought the whole witch thing she does is all an act. Conforming to the stereotype of being an Occult Professor."

"Refuge in audacity," I said.

"Right, I forget that really works. When do you think she'll begin teaching us? I'm excited all of a sudden. Learning about our family, our history."

I groaned. "History. I have no love for the subject."

Bonnie mussed the short buzz I called hair, giving me a pity pout. "Poor baby."

"Shut up. What did you tell Elena? Please don't tell me you said I freaked out and almost crashed."

"No," said Bonnie. "No, no. Cars are still something of a sore subject with her. I didn't need to worry her. Instead I told her you freaked out enough about school that you convinced dad to let us take the day off."

"Good enough lie, but it's sort of necessity that we'll have to get better. Unless you're thinking about telling Elena and Caroline about this?"

"Will you tell Jeremy?" she asked.

Right, I was friends with Jeremy Gilbert. The weedy guy who had turned to drugs lately to deal with lose. Our relationship had been becoming tenuous lately, the facsimile was much like me in that it didn't understand and rightly feared addiction, but if I remembered correctly finding out about the supernatural world had given him purpose.

"I think I will. That whole keeping secrets thing is a real cliché. Grams can take away any memories that might arise if he tried to blackmail me anyway." The look on Bonnie was one of disconcertion, it took me a moment before the memories were stirred up and I remembered that this was out of character for me. Different experiences had shaped the facsimile in a way I couldn't recognise as being me. It either meant I would have to act the part—which was bad considering I don't remember ever being a good actor—or just blame it all on the fact that I had been bewitched.

The latter option was easier but it would mean Grams and Dad would be guiltier while the latter would be a personal inconvenience. I was heavily considering the second option because I kept thinking that they deserved to feel guilty. Strange that I was thinking about my family in such a cold manner, but I knew myself enough to know I was truly a vengeful creature at heart and direct confrontations weren't my thing. This would be my way of getting back at them.

"How about a movie?" said Bonnie, breaking the silence. "Watching those Harry Potter movies you love will have a whole other level of fun now," she said with a large grin.

She was right.

"Let's do it."

A day and night spent watching television. Grams didn't come that day much to my chagrin. I internally fumed but that was lost because of its futility. Bonnie with the power of the curse, of course to her it was almost like telekinesis; an unspoken extension of her will. Which was the reason it was the only logical conclusion that we started on our grimoires

"Is this really safe?" Bonnie asked after a trip to the store and two leather-bound _journals _in front. "They're just books. Nothing is keeping anyone else from just opening and reading them."

"I'm sure there should be a spell to fix that," I said.

Bonnie snorted. "Is that going to be what you say for everything? There's a spell out there for it?"

I shrugged, already jotting down what I knew about the spell of Motion. "In most cases it's always true. All we have to figure out is if we have the power to pull it off."

Questions upon question jotted down about the drain of magic, the magical core and magical exhaustion. I already knew about fuel sources: blood from the doppelgangers, rare events, the spirits and Nature itself. Coming up with a plausible excuse for such knowledge however was something I couldn't conjure up which meant I had rely on my core, something that was a mystery to me.

Then there was the more passive abilities granted to a witch; the clairvoyance and nonverbal magic that Bonnie found easy on an instinctual level; why was that and how could I get it without having to go the Expression route (side note: How do I access the power of Expression?).

I toyed with penning the memories of what I remembered of the television show, but Bonnie's words resonated. Already I was risking something with what I'd already written down and this was only a book with nothing in the way of magical protection. But I feared forgetting it all; forgetting the cheats that would make my life harder.

From this point on it was a waiting game.

The next morning was both dull and incessant. The breaking of the spell had made me miss school but there was no longer any reason to. Bonnie didn't let me drive on the trip to Elena's place to pick her and Jeremy up. A few greetings later and the girls up front descended into girl talk.

"We should really consider getting our own cars," I said to Jeremy, pulling out his headphones in the same instance. "Stop brooding. It's getting old. I need you to keep my mind away from their chatter."

Jeremy groaned, sparring me a dead look before turning to the window.

"Come on. Talk to me. How was the first day of school? I've got this massive occurrence to tell you about and you brooding will make this take longer. Jeremy. Jer…Come guy, speak to me."

Surprisingly after a goodnight's sleep the memories were fitting in well into my mind. Everything was starting to fit into place, the facsimile's life going along the lines I thought my life would have gone and every decision the one I think I would have made did I not have future knowledge. I didn't need to act. I just needed to be.

"Dude, you're being annoying."

"You speak," I said brightening. "Now, speak a little more. I asked questions."

"School was and will always be, school. Boring and tedious as hell."

"I don't think hell would be boring," I mused aloud. "Not exciting exactly, but not boring. All those flames and or torture."

He snorted. "What's up happened yesterday? I was late because of you. Had to hear some damned speech about, 'that behaviour will no longer be acceptable.' Our teachers are douches."

"Two more years, brother. Then we're off to college. Living the carefree life of slacking off."

"Three more years," Jeremy corrected. "At least in my case. While you're living it up. I'll be slaving in history."

"Poor baby," I said giving a pout. "You'll live."

The rhythm I remembered shot off at that point. I stretched it out as long as I could before we had to separate for class. That was when the boredom set in: The memories of my previous were almost non-existent except for indecipherable and vague feelings; even through all this though, the strongest feeling I got was from my schooling days.

I had loathed it then and I loathed it even more now with the knowledge that I had done this before. I had gone through the schooling process and managed a year of college before—I hit a blank. I couldn't reach in too much without inevitably hitting that wall.

I let go of all those thoughts and instead focused on the day. Moving from class to class, having the odd conversation before I stopped, my heart pounding at the sight of him: Tall with dark hair, a brooding expression and a look of adoration pointed at Elena.

Stefan Salvatore.

It was already beginning.

Panic seized me. This was happening too soon, at least from my perspective. I only knew two spells, one of which was useful in an actual fight against a vampire, and even they needed a lot of focus for me to cast, not to mention that I was a little confused at how events would play out.

Caroline would die at some point; Grams would die at some point; at another point Jeremy would die; so many things would happened and though I knew they would I didn't know when. I couldn't plan thoroughly and to avoid the many deaths that would occur.

It hit me how very weak I was.

"I know right." I started, whirling around to meet Bonnie and Caroline who took were looking at Stefan and Elena. It had been Caroline to speak. "Talk about eye candy."

Bonnie hummed in agreement and it would have been a lie on my part to disagree.

"Who is he?" I asked, remembering there was no way I could no him.

"Stefan Salvatore," Caroline said. "New in town, obviously, and he lives in the Salvatore Boarding House with his uncle."

"How do you even know that?" Bonnie asked, surprised. "Never mind," she said with a shake of the head, interrupting what was going to be a chilling account of a man's life.

I had watched Stefan through a third person perspective—creepy thought, especially since there was the possibility that I too might be being watched by the eyes of bystander, I quickly pushed it aside—but I knew the knowledge I'd had would be nothing on what Caroline could dig up. But then again she was known by the entire school for being intense, what could I really expect?

"Talking about him is not the reason I tracked you down," Bonnie continued.

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking we visit Grams after school," she said. "It's all well and good to wait but we need to be proactive about this."

"About what?" Caroline asked looking between us.

"It's nothing," I said. "Family stuff that would make me think of snuffing out my dear sister for saying them out loud where any manner of riffraff might hear."

Bonnie snorted. "You love me too much for you to even consider that. We should get to class," she said to Caroline. "See you later?"

A quick nod and my eyes returned towards where Stefan had been. He was gone, but the feeling of panic still hadn't abated. Rationally I knew he wouldn't kill me, especially if he heard my surname, but I also knew that it all started with him being in Mystic Falls. I couldn't pay attention in the next class, my thoughts trying to reach into the blankness that was _forgetting. _

It finally hit me. Damon. He had been unstable at the beginning of it all and his relationship with his brother had always been somewhat perverted and twisted. Stefan being here would bring the older Salvatore here, and as intense as he had been, Damon wouldn't have any qualms about killing.

Note to self: Check the news for any killings or missing persons. What was the oft used cover story? Animal attacks.

If it was Damon, then there would already be killings.

I shuddered. Everything was beginning at this point and pretty soon everyone would be involved, my sister and me included. I would need to be stronger, more powerful.

I truly hoped Grams wasn't in the mood for history lessons.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

An awkward silence hung tersely in the air. I took a gulp of the tea Grams had handed to us on arrival, watching the woman who looked at us both with a proud glimmer in her eyes. Five minutes and beyond the greetings there had been nothing in the exchange of words.

I wasn't the one about to break it. Every thought I had revolved around revenge in one manner or another, how could I milk as much the entire situation as I could. But I held all that back because the woman in front of me screamed of danger. The best thing to do in the situation would be to let Bonnie take the lead; she was the more touchy feely of the both of us.

"So," said Bonnie. She must have heard a portion of my thoughts. "Grams," her tone was hesitant, unsure. "I don't know if told you this, but Micah remembered." Grams' eyes quickly darted my way, taking me in before returning to look at Bonnie. "We know what we are and we were hoping you could teach us."

"Teach you about the Bennett heritage," said Grams with a barely restrained smile and pride in her voice. "Well, first and foremost we hail from a longline of powerful witches…" and it was then that I blocked her out.

_**History.**_

She spent at least an hour going of the history of family. Days spent in Salem before the move, the power we housed, but she didn't mention anything about any spells. I called her out on it.

"Grams, much though I enjoy the history lesson, and I do, don't get me wrong, when do we get to the spells, rituals and grimoires?"

"I don't remember saying anything about grimoires," she said with a particular smile. "One has to wonder where you get these ideas from, boy."

"Google," Bonnie provided.

Grams chuckled.

"Grimoires," she said, clearly restraining her amusement. She took a glance of her watch. "Okay. Let's start with that. Every spell a witch casts is unique unto itself. The same spell, cast in the same manner and with the same ingredients would be intrinsically different from witch to witch because of such things as their core, their elemental affinity or their area of speciality. A grimoire is a store for all this. It, in and of itself, is magical and tied to its witch by unbreakable threads."

"Even by death?" I asked, a memory of Qetsiyah casting a spell to make Bonnie the Anchor and using her Grimoire in lieu of not having her body.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Grams said, her earlier pride lost and instead looking disconcerted. "The spirit of a witch can summoned from the Other Side through the use of her grimoire."

"The Other Side?" asked Bonnie.

"A dimension when the supernatural die," she said. "The spirits can act on our side, but it takes a great deal of strength. It is far easier instead to have someone on this side to enact their will."

Spirit magic, I thought. Useful, but in the long run it brought about subservience, a dependence on the spirits and their powers. I still wanted it though; their power. It would make dealing with Damon easier. I would need a grimoire to invoke the spirits.

"But that is not something you should be worrying yourselves with," Grams added. "What you should focus on instead is finding your elemental affinities. These will be the elements which you will find the most ease in channelling. Your task for the next week or so will to open yourselves up to Nature. Let it flow around and through you. Nature will show you your inclination. I think that's enough for today," she said. "You both best be going home before you father worries."

We both found our feet, giving Grams a peck on the cheek before we carted off. Bonnie drove. I found it annoying that she and Dad had resolved that I was a bad driver because of that one incident where I would have crashed if the streets had been busier. Talk about unfair.

The following day at school was listless at best and I got started on my meditation, trying to open myself up to Nature. I can't explain how I did it, but the feeling Bonnie had explained to Elena at some point suddenly opened up to me; it was almost akin to a second heartbeat outside my body, beating with a warmth that my subconscious said it had needed for a long time, but trying to extend the feeling further however brought nothing, but then again did I expect this would all come to me in a day?

Lunch found me beside Jeremy, sitting on a couch whose existence I didn't know, with my friend staring dopey-eyed at Matt's sister. "I'm guessing the thing between you two has passed," I said. The two, my memories confirmed, had had a thing during the summer.

"It's complicated," said Jeremy.

"Explain it to me very slowly. I'll try and keep up."

Jeremy sighed, eyes still cast out across the courtyard where Vicki was chatting with Tyler. Too close for it to be anything but flirting. "Let's talk about something else," he said. "You said you had something to tell me."

"My place after school. It will blow your mind."

"You're setting the bar quite high. You've just set yourself up for failure, you know that right?"

"Trust me, this will transcend whatever your mind is trying to think up."

"Looking forward to it," he said.

"That's settled. Back to Vicki. What are you going to do sweep her off her feet and take her away from jerk jock over there?"

"What makes you think I want to?" he asked. "Vicki seems to like Tyler. It borders on stalker territory if I chase her around like a sick puppy."

I couldn't help the chortle. "If ever there was irony, that would be it," I muttered much to his confusion. "One day you'll get it," I told him.

"Remind when that day comes. My memory banks aren't for storing your obscure jokes."

"I'll make a note."

Lunch ended and, the next subjects being actually important—anything sans history was important—I was forced to pay attention, refraining from trying to read my connection to Nature.

"Something's up with Stefan."

"Come on, Bonnie! Don't sneak up on me," it was unintentional, but some mild panic was still set in my heart. Maybe it was Stefan or the threat that Damon would soon be here—I hadn't had time to check the internet for any attacks in Mystic Falls, but I would have to do it tonight. Not that I would be able to do anything about it if the man was here, but at least I could warn Jeremy not to invite him into his house.

"Sorry," she said though her expression was anything but. "I got a feeling from him. One I didn't particularly like. I thought it might be something witchy."

I held back the smirk, this certainly made things easier. "What was it like?"

"Cold shivers running up my spine," she said. "Blood, a lot of it, and…death? At least that's what I thought the feeling might be."

I took a long breath, trying to find a way of phrasing everything and making it seem like I didn't know the answers. "Grams told us about the Other Side," I said. "Do you remember what she said? It's where supernatural creatures go. I've been thinking, why didn't she just say witches?"

Bonnie frowned. "You think there might be more out there? Not only witches?"

"Stranger things have happened," I said with a shrug. "We have to ask Grams about it. Whatever he is, he might be dangerous and we're not equipped to deal it."

"I'm heading there now, actually…" she paused, shooting me a look I couldn't quite place. "I've already found my affinity."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Fire."

"Cool," I told her. "It's cool, Bon. I sort of expected this in the first place." She looked slightly taken aback. "You're a natural at all this. You feel things while I don't. But that doesn't mean things won't work out. Anyway if Grams gives you anything you'll be sure to share right?"

"Of course," she said without hesitation. I smiled.

"Brilliant. Now go to Grams, ask her about this while I focus on Jeremy. I'm going to tell him about everything."

"So soon?"

"Yeah. Dragging it out will get tiring and if there's another supernatural with unknown allegiance walking around town, attending school with us—"

"Trying to date Elena," Bonnie added.

"Awareness is good," I finished. "That ignorance is bliss expression is stupid in most instances."

"See you at home then," she said. "I'll take the car."

The pout came of its own volition. "Once. I almost crash once and you act like it was my fault. Come on, sis. You're a cheerleader, you need the exercise."

"Are you trying to say I'm fat?"

A breath before I let it out. "You win."

She grinned.

Outright saying was harder than I thought. The memories of the facsimile aside, I didn't know Jeremy that well, and yet his opinion meant so much to me.

I knew that he would accept this. He had accepted Bonnie, been excited for that matter; if he could accept the existence of vampires and werewolves, creatures far darker than most witches so accepting me, a friend, would be child's play.

I took a breath, staring at the sandwiches I had made and was supposed to have served five minutes ago. Be courageous, I thought, trying to amp myself up. This is nothing in the greater scheme of things…stop thinking like that. It means everything. Jeremy is a friend and him not being able to accept me would break me more than I could guess.

My steps were tenuous, taking far longer to reach the adjacent living room than it should have, but when I arrived Jeremy waited expectantly.

"That was stalling," Jeremy said. "What? Are you doubting that this thing you're going to tell me is going to blow my mind?" The grin diffused the tension which made things a lot easier.

"No, this will blow your mind," I said with faked confidence. I took a long breath, laying the food on the table and looking at him. We locked eyes for more than was comfortable and the awkward tension became almost palpable.

"Please don't say you have a crush on me," Jeremy muttered and I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me as he finished, "That would make things so awkward."

"No, Jer. You're cute and all, but I've known you long enough that I've become desensitized to your cuteness. No. What I'm going to tell you is that. I'm a witch, I prefer warlock though."

"You're joking right?" But my expression was enough. He frowned, an expression of deep worry marring his features. "Micah. Did you hit your head or something?" he asked. "How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked waving two fingers. I smacked them aside.

"Motus," I said, my focus on the couch we were sitting on and moving it slowly up. It followed the command, slowly rising into the air until we were dangerously close to hitting the ceiling. "I'm really a witch, Jer."

I was met by silence. I was worried. My dad walked in on me doing magic and I subconsciously dropped the couch. The heavy thud was deeply discomforting. It was stupid the way I rose to my feet, heart pounding as though I had done something wrong, to make things worse my father's expression said that I had done something wrong. Pushing the feelings back was one of the hardest things to do.

"Micah. Jeremy," Dad said, his shoulders tensed and looking closed off. He looked at me with hurt glimmering in his eyes before he walked away. The impulse was to follow him, to console him but I pushed him aside. Dad didn't like magic because of my mother leaving, that much was easy to tell, but I had nothing to do with that. It was dad that had to deal with his feelings. He was the one who had to separate magic from my mother.

I looked back to Jeremy, trying to gauge how well he had taken the news. He was hard to read, more because of the non-scene with my dad than anything else.

"Your dad knows?" he asked awkwardly.

"It goes without saying, he's my dad."

Jeremy nodded. "You don't cook babies, right?" he asked to serious for the left over awkwardness not to dissipate.

"No." I said with a slight chuckle, but then I pause, putting on a musing expression. "At least Grams hasn't taught me anything concerning cooking babies."

"Wait, that thing about Grams being a witch is actually true?" At the nod he said, "Wow. Wouldn't have expected it. Was your mom, too?"

"Yeah. It runs in the family. Bonnie too, matter of fact."

My worries had been unfounded. Jeremy was as curious I was. We talked over what I already had, the exhaustion and the drain, even going so far as to do a few experiments: It was quite simple, raising three objects in the of varying weights and trying to see how much each drained while Jeremy looked out for any signs of the psychic nosebleed.

None came, fortunately. But the spell at least became clearer. There was no thought of weight or mass when it was concerned, the only true factor was focus. The slightest bit of a distraction and the connection to the spell was lost. Jeremy had the theory that, maybe, all I had to do to get over that would be to get the spell to the point where it became second nature.

The theory was a good as any, but there was a small fact that I hadn't expected: Moving small things was inexplicably hard. I could move the bed without much trouble. Jeremy had even consented that I give him an experience of flight, which had been easy enough to do, but the moment I tried to move a pencil it was almost impossible. Guess that means I have to work at the small stuff before I can snap a vampire's neck or pull out their heart.

Bother. But maybe I could generate enough force that I could kill them with blunt force trauma. Of course, this would be if I were going to take vampires head on, and no matter how much knowledge of the future I had, no part of me wanted to do that.

"Bonnie," said Jeremy with a particular look as we passed her heading for the car. She shot me a look between worry and surprise. I gave her a small nod.

She shrugged. "We need to talk," she said. "Hurry back."

A nod and Jeremy and I left. Driving again was exhilarating. I thought about speeding before the small fact that there might be more backlash from the spell hit. Conversation was insipid, reverting back to such things as Vicki, who, though he tried to hide it, Jeremy was still hung up on. At least he wasn't hanging out with her crew though, that girl was too much trouble for my liking which was at odds with his brother Matt.

The moment I got home Bonnie descended, "He's a vampire…but you already knew that," she said slightly taken aback. "How?"

"Feeling. But I wasn't too sure. My mind kept drawing a connection between the Other Side, Stefan and Gram's vague statement."

"This is big," she said. "You're manifesting clairvoyance."

I knew at some point it would come back to bite me, but right now, it would be a perfect excuse for anything oriented I might know. "It's slow coming, but I think so." I hesitated, mulling it over. She had to know. Not everything, it made sense that it should come in groves but at least that Stefan had a brother and he was unstable—damn, if only I could remember the first bloody season everything would be so much simpler.

"I don't think Stefan's dangerous," I told her. "But I also get the feeling that something else is. Maybe another vampire?"

"Maybe. Grams says vampires are like roaches. Scurry in the darkness, unseen but there. Coming out at night and causing nothing but death and destruction," she sounded much like I felt, panicked and scared. "Elena seems to like him though, what are we going to do?"

"Not much we can do. We're not strong enough."

"There are other ways to protect everyone," Bonnie said. She pulled out a small tome and slid it towards me. "This is everything Grams knows about vampires."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

I took a long breath, sitting cross-legged on the ground and letting my sense stretch out, opening myself up to Nature. Minutes passed, the night's air nipping at my skin before I felt the second heartbeat, though this time it was more of a roar. I could almost feel Nature whisper through my ears, muttering sweet nothings that I could not entirely perceive.

My affinity still wasn't apparent though, those whispers mentioned nothing of them. But I continued to listen. Lost to the workings of the entity which granted me my powers. She continued whispering, speaking in a language I grasped only for the truth to pass through my fingers.

The beeping of my alarm broke concentration. Two hours sitting in the damp grass and I hadn't felt a thing, my affinity continued to stay just at the edge of my grasp. I let out a long breath filled with my exasperation before I trudge back into the house, gulping down a glass of milk before going to my room and starting the search.

_Animal attacks, Mystic Falls. _The search turned up a lot of hits, all of them going back far into the town's history. I refined the search, filtering so it pulled up the most recent accounts first. Only one death so far and from the new the woman had been killed five days ago. I extended the search beyond just deaths but to missing persons reported with a connection to Mystic Falls. Three missing, hikers, the likeliest targets for getting abducted in the night and becoming vampire chum.

Damon was already here. How should I deal with it?

I couldn't fight him, never mind that I was powerful but if I made myself a target he would come at me like a rabid dog, that being if he didn't go after Bonnie. Grams would be powerful enough to take him on, but then Stefan would get involved if we tried to take on his brother.

My best bet would be to make him my ally. Damon had the propensity to be extremely loyal to his allies, but like all powerful people, the moment he was disappointed he would want to kill. I needed to ensure that didn't happened. How, was the question, and I needed to ensure all this would happen with the least likely danger to me.

I ran a hand over my head, my features marred in a frown as I tried to think. A sense of exasperation hit me at the thought that if Grams and Dad hadn't seen fit to seal me in my own mind, I would have gone a lot further in my preparations. No use crying over spilt milk. Right now I had to tell Jeremy and when Bonnie finally mustered the courage to fill in Elena and Caroline, they too would have to be in the loop.

Until then I would have to get Vervain. A search later and I knew with certainty that I would not be going to school in the morning.

On dad's part missing school was easy enough to do, he was distant, breakfast with him being the hardest thing to do as he would look at us with expressions heavily tinged with disappointment. I didn't let it get to me. Bonnie on the other hand was suspicious.

"You're missing school and you want the car," she said. "It screams of suspicion. Where are you going?"

I sighed, descending into a whisper. Dad was in the other room getting ready for work and we were supposed to be getting ready for school once the dishes were done. "I'm trying to get my hands on Vervain," I told her.

"Vervain? Why?"

"Our friends," I answered. "They at least need to be protected. We don't have the power to protect them all, and until then, the only thing we can do short of killing it, is using Vervain to depower them."

"Do you think it's safe," Bonnie asked looking worried.

"I'm good with the one spell I have," I said. "I could probably keep a vampire in place and run if I needed to. But I won't. I'll keep a low profile and get what I need and get out. Hopefully none of them will be there…no, that's not right. I've got a feeling none of them will be there."

Bonnie sighed, but I could see she didn't entirely believe me. I was milking this clairvoyance for all it was worth and when it got to the point where I couldn't predict anything I would be in it deep.

"I should go with you," said Bonnie but I quickly shook my head.

"No. You need to tell your friends," I told her. "I can see that you're putting it off. Just come out with it."

Bonnie groaned. "It's just. It's not easy."

"I know, sis. Trust me I do, but you've got to push through." Dishes done and dad already gone I grabbed the car keys. "I should go. Tell people I'm sick and Jeremy that I'll tell him everything when I get back. It shouldn't take most of the day."

Whatever obsession I'd had before for driving I got over in the two hour long drive. The sight were insipid, sparse greenery to enjoy, minimal cars and the music on the radio was absolute crud. Through it all I managed to pull through, finally stopping in the middle of nowhere, in a house that was practically screaming of magic.

The house was two storey, looking worn and weathered, every visible surface entwined with creeping vines. It was bordered by low wire fence, the vines sprouting a purple plant every so often. The distinct impression was a Boundary Spell. Qetsiyah had used one to keep Stefan in place and it had been composed mainly of vines. I made a note to write that down, less I forget. Everything would be useful at some point and forgetting was the ultimate crime against humanity in my perspective.

Okay, I thought, mind returning to the present. The woman who going to sell me Vervain was a witch. I could handle that. Witches weren't often hostile to each other unless they were working to gain conflicting goals. Even with that true, however, most did not like immortals. The chances this witch would hurt me were slim at best and if she was…yeah, thinking about that would sooner make me turn around than give me the courage to continue forward. I chose to push the thought aside and trick myself into moving.

I reached the gate and stopped, taking few breaths before pushing it open. Nothing happened, which was a relief. My courage grew and it was easier to push myself forward until I reached the door, gave it a few knocks and waited.

The ending of a sentence started me. I whipped around to find a woman and weathered, wrinkled and grey haired, and looking much like what witches were supposed to look—sans warts and pointy hat. The gun though was definitely not witchy, and it had me frozen in shock and my heart jumping to my throat.

"I'm a witch," I said, the first words to jump into my mind. The woman, her eyes as cold as steel, features stern and arm still only spared me a look.

"Why should I care?" the woman asked, her voice stronger than she looked. Her question caught me at a loss. I floundered, unsure with what to say, only stuck in the perfect image of a statue. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Vervain," I managed after a few tries. "I got your details off of Craig's List. It said you had the cure for the creatures of the night."

The woman snorted. "You're the first witch to actually answer to that," she said. "That's a trap, boy. One I use to cull the undead population."

"That explains the Boundary Spell," I muttered, thinking out loud. "But please tell me you have Vervain. I think my town may be infested, and until I'm powerful enough to take them on. I can't protect anyone."

Laying it on thick, in truth, but technically it was true. Witches were servants of Nature, and supposedly vampires were a bane to her. If any appeal would work, it had to do with vampires. I could see it working, her eyes softened and there were small signs that her gun would no longer be pointed at me.

"How far along are you?" she asked.

"Barely beginning," I told her. "The Motion Spell and I'm trying to find my affinity."

She clucked, shaking her head. "Too early. Stay here," she said. "You move and I'll shoot you in the head." She began speaking, words moving with such swiftness that the moment I caught one I'd already forgotten the other, at the end of it all, she just stood there, her gun pointed towards me and looking at me with almost dead eyes.

I didn't move, my breath coming in pants. This is what your life is going to be like when it all truly begins, I kept telling myself. You will be in danger and sometimes, instead of being threatened they might pull through. I might die. It made no sense that I was afraid here, where she wouldn't kill me.

Half an hour passed before the woman abruptly disappeared, an exact replica immediately opening the door, she held a box filled with the purple plants I had seen sprouting through her vines.

"Take it," the witch said, foisting the heavy box towards me. I did, saying the spell and focusing on the box—I might as well get practise out of this, I thought. It lifted from her hands and began to float towards me; her lips twitched the smallest beat and she shook her head. "Take care, boy," she said. "Vampires breed trouble. Don't show them mercy."

I gave a nod, thanking the woman before moving to the car and driving off.

For two hours again I listened to the roaring whispers and still I didn't find my affinity. It was annoying, searching so long for something Bonnie had already figured out. No, I thought, this isn't a competition. Even from the perspective of the show it had been clear Bonnie had been exceptional when it came to magic, the same could not be said for me.

I had to work at it. Keep trying until I succeeded. Spoken spells at least were my forte. I said the spell and focused on my grimoire; it vibrated, shaking fervently before it cluttered on the ground. That still didn't work, but with enough practise I was sure I would be able to get the hang of it.

A groan left me as I got to my feet and began reading over my thoughts about the witch I had seen: The witch's Boundary Spell had been of particular interest. At some point I would have to return there, see if she would teach me her spell, maybe the illusion too. But at this point I was battling with the basic concepts, the abstract concepts. I needed to focus on those.

The next spell needed preparation. I scoured through the entire housing, finding a few candles before closing myself in my room. A spell was intoned—it hit, my head jolted left and right, the force of a hammer, a cool and thick liquid sliding down my nose—the fire sputtered into life all the same, lighting one of the candles. My legs buckled, unable to support my weight, and they gave out; the next thing I knew I was on the ground, out of breath and my head hammering.

That would be my limit, I thought. No more spells for me for today.

I shrugged, that gave me more time to work with the Vervain: Three per person. Necklace, bracelet and ring, and of course a drink just to be safe…matter of fact, it would be good to go further and have them carry the actual plant as a distraction. There was no such thing as too cautious.

A quick trip to the store and I had myself an unhealthy amount of jars; I filled water into the things before quartering my stock of Vervain. A quarter was broken down into powder and poured so that every jar of water some of the powder. I had six jars overall and I gave each a firm shake, making sure it turned into a solution.

Now all I needed was to the objects deposited in the water, but I could leave all that for the next morning. Right now I was tired and I needed sleep. I made sure to lock the door before I nodded off.

"You've been busy," the words were Bonnies, awakening me from my slumber. My room was a literal mess; the supplies I had used to powder the Vervain were on my desk, the floor lined with jars filled with the Vervain solution and the plants having their own places on the floor, not to mention the suspicious amount of candles.

"Not done yet," I muttered, eyes still lined with sleep and my mind groggy. "But it's a start. How was school?"

"It was school," said Bonnie. She tenuously walked in. "Your quest went well, then?"

"Yeah. The woman was a witch," I told her, burying my face under my pillow. "Threatened to blow my brains out with a shotgun." I didn't need to see her expression to know that she tensed. "But overall she was nice. She said the information I used is mainly to lure vampires into trying to kill her. Which kind of makes sense why it wasn't obscured in the least."

I heard Bonnie sigh. "Next time I'm going with you," she said. "It must be exciting meeting another witch."

I hummed. "Did you tell them yet?" Bonnie didn't answer. I groaned. "Come, sis. I have all this prepared and you haven't told them yet. Do your part in this."

"I know. I know. I'll tell them tonight. At the Comet Festival."

"That's tonight?" I asked, having completely forgotten. The comet was supposed to mean something. It was significant after all. The power that could be channelled from it would be indescribable. Like I said, knowing the future sucked. No…knowing the future and being powerless sucked. All that power would flying around and I wouldn't be able to do some nifty spellwork.

"Yeah. Now get up and tell me everything."

I told her everything including my plans. It made things easier to have someone to bounce ideas off of and she was that. She too agree that there was no such thing as too cautious, but the whole thing with trying to get the Vervain witch to teach me magic she didn't like so much.

"Don't you feel like we're betraying Grams?" she asked. "Asking another witch to train us?"

I didn't answer for a long time, the word having sparked something. "Let's talk about something else."

The conversation ended, leaving an awkwardness that lingered even as Bonnie drove to the gathering of peers we called the Comet Festival. The next few hours of my life were a drunken blur, spent mingling with my school mates, looking for Jeremy—the guy had a knack for disappearing—when a voice managed to filter through.

At first Elena and I had not really friends, but there laws of association made it hard for those feelings not to stick. The girl had hit it off with my sister and, such was the way of the world, I hit it off with her brother while complaining about our annoying sisters. Compound this by years together, going through the annoying stages of life, and I could say I cared about her; with was the reason that, when she thought of introducing me to Stefan during the party—to say festival was a stupid euphemism—I cursed him.

The words left me faster than I had known possible, my hand instinctively moving up and pointing at Stefan before the man was blown away from Elena's side and deep into the forest.

Elena was gobsmacked.

I, surprisingly, was unfazed.

I tsked. "Elena, we'll need to talk at somepoint."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Fortune had befallen me in that everyone was either drunk, stoned or both. The sight of Stefan as he flew back, branches digging into his skin and snapping off trees the further he went, an expression of shock and pain on him, was easily dismissed by either shakes of the head or raucous bouts of laughter.

"Micah," Elena started, but the alcohol coursing through me was still hard at work as plan upon plan made its way through my mind.

I'd just revealed I was a witch to Stefan, it wasn't all that bad things considered but it was the manner with which I had revealed myself: in plain sight, where anyone who isn't drunk could see me. Where any vampire might see me.

Stefan wasn't dangerous, or at least I didn't think he would hurt me, but Damon I wasn't too sure about. Matter of fact I wasn't too sure if he wouldn't want to use my power, or lack thereof in this case. Witches were a commodity in most cases, greater still when was preparing for war.

"Micah!" I was jerked away from my thoughts. She had been speaking but I hadn't heard a word. "What's going on? What was that?"

My mind was a jumbled mess, sluggish and yet at the same time moving far faster than I was used to. Hearing and processing the outside world was hard, the boom of conversation around me, I was jostled and bumped by people still in a partying mood making it significantly harder. Everything on the mental level though was going as good as I could expect when fuelled by paranoia and unhealthy low alcohol tolerance.

"Find Bonnie," I said, well the more precise description would be to say slurred. "She'll tell you everything. But right now, I need to talk to Stefan."

Elena of course didn't listen to me. I heard her footsteps as I walked forward, Stefan's path quite clear through with all the branches he must have amassed. Again I was fortunate because if she had listened to me I would have face planted when I tripped from a particularly vicious root. She caught me as I tried futilely to regain my balance, the stability was much appreciated.

It didn't take more than a few minutes to find Stefan. The man looked in pain, the low light doing nothing to hide him as he pulled a tick branch from his leg. Elena's breath hitched and she started forward. I moved my arm to impede her path but it was five seconds too late.

"Stefan," she was saying, already kneeling beside the man and fumbling in her attempts to stop the bleeding. Stefan suddenly looked up, his teeth grit together. He gave Elena a push that sent her flying back, then he turned to look at me, eyes red a veiny, fangs bared and a hungry expression that turned me sober.

"Get away," Stefan said and he sounded as though he was in pain. "Both of you," he grit out. "Run."

"Fuck." I bolted, focusing on Elena with the edge of my mind and thinking pull intensely. I muttered the spell under my breath—the world tilted and all the air rushed out of me; everything shaky and indistinct, and trying to get any detail from the edge of the outside world making the feeling that much worse.

Everything became black.

"Oh Fuck, No," the words slipped through my lips as I saw the woman, girl actually; she looked to be my age if not younger and had long dark hair. I had the surest sense I knew her name, I just couldn't for the life remember it.

"Told you this one was powerful," she said, not speaking to me. "I'm sure he can sense us without even a touch. He'll be useful."

"Yeah," said another, a male voice from the edge of the room. I tried to move, sit up only to find that I was chained to a bed, my head being the only thing I could move; turning slightly, I saw the man and I had no idea who he was. I think that fact scared me most of all. "But it will mean he's that much harder to keep tied up."

The girl shook her head. "I said powerful, that doesn't mean learned," she said. She looked at me, eyes turning red and veins appearing as her fangs were barred. My heart pounded viciously against my chest and everything in my body drove home one point, _I'm going to die. _

The fangs retreated and the girl smiled. "Definitely unlearned." She sighed, looking at her companion. "But we'll have to be on the lookout," she said. "If there's one witch here. A child, then chances are there'll be another. An older far more powerful witch."

"What are you thinking?" her companion asked.

The next few words they devolved into unintelligible whispers. I took a long breath, trying to think. The memories of what had happened were clear, but what was hard to understand was the reason pushing Stefan only once had knocked me out. Dwelling on it now would do me no good. I was captive by hostile vampires—that I had missed two either than Damon was a real let down, but again, something to think on later—and I needed to get out.

How? I had two vampires of unknown age keeping me and I couldn't predict my oft used spell against them would work for me. If the thing with Stefan happened again, I'd be left exhausted and useless. I took a long breath, turning to look at the room at large and finally coming towards something; sunlight drifted through from the closed curtain and as they conversed, both were keeping well away from it.

Maybe they didn't have daylight rings. Which made my only option…Another breath and I focus intently on the curtain, glaring at it. "Incendia." A flame sputtered into being, licking the curtain and trying to grow only to be snuff out a moment later by a splash of water. My trouble was met by the back of a hand to the face and an aching jaw.

Yeah, definitely wasn't going to try that again.

Something else then? How could I get out of this situation while I was still alive? Think things through, Micah, I told myself. Calm down and think it all through.

No vampires goes against a witch without purpose; to my knowledge we didn't have special blood that tasted better. Which meant they needed me for a spell they needed cast. A more experience witch would have already gotten out of these restraints, already fought the both of them and won. I was inexperienced, unlearned and exactly what they wanted.

I could cast their spell without the inherent danger of me going against them.

But Grams was still out there. Bonnie was still out there. They would be looking for me and if Elena was still alive, some part of me clenched at the thought that there was even a possibility she might be hurt, they would know that I had been taken by vampires. They would have countermeasures in place and they would deal with them, however I was still worried; they were expecting an older witch to come and rescue me. They too would have countermeasures in place.

How can I get out with minimal injury to myself and my family? I asked myself. There had to be an answer. A simple answer that was easy to get at. I couldn't rely on power, it was an obvious answer in a respect but I didn't have the knowledge to back it up. That left fighting, which I couldn't do as well, vampires were sure to win that fight even if they were young, and bargaining.

My best shot out of all of this.

I tilted my head up. I could see them talking, the little smaller one more than the larger in rapid whisper. They were planning, which solidified that I needed to act.

I cleared my throat, both the vampires turned to look at me. It hit me that perhaps agitating two vampires was not the smartest idea, but I needed to push through all this. Getting out of here would be the most optimal solution and the only solution I had was this.

"Could you loosen the reigns a little? I promise I won't try to escape or anything." Not the best starts but it was something, at least I'd gathered the courage to say something.

The older man snorted. "Not going to happened," he said. He looked at the girl. "It would be a better idea if we taped his mouth shut. Nullify his power."

The girl nodded. "I'll make a quick run, in the meantime you should keep an eye on him. We have no idea how long it will take before he's located." The girl walked to the door while the man slunk off towards a corner; the door opened and the girl walked out in broad daylight.

She had a ring and he didn't, if there was ever an opening it was that. There would be contention, there would be longing, he would want a ring too. "I can make you one too, you know," the words slipped, and it was fortunate they did because without my shaken thoughts I didn't sound as panicked as I felt.

The man spared me a look.

"A ring," I explained. "A daylight ring."

The man snorted. "I doubt that, kid," he muttered, taking a seat on the bed on the other side of the room and grabbing an old magazine. "Now shut before I smack some sense into you." The threat was quiet, but it was still a threat that meant a lot. My jaw still ached from the hit I was sure wasn't even a use of the girl's full strength.

"You could do that," I said after a few moments of silence. "Or, tomorrow morning, you could be out there. Terrorising people in the day, not having to worry about the ever watchful eye of the Town Council."

I shouldn't have known about that, but it wasn't like the man would quiz me on their knowledge. He did tense though, his shoulders growing rigid and his fingers digging into the magazine he had been reading. I could see his jaw tense before he quickly calmed himself.

"What's your name?" the vampire asked.

"Micah," I said. "Micah Bennett."

"A Bennett witch," the man said. "At least that's one thing we've done right." He muttered something else I couldn't quite make out. "Which means your witch parent will be that much harder to deal with."

I felt a shiver pass through my spine. The man stood and paced, running a hand through dark. I took a breath and opened myself up to Nature, it was the only thing I could do, perhaps it could give me the power I needed to escape this mess. The power was there but it was different, what I was used to as a roar of a second heartbeat was now significantly duller.

Did that mean something? That here, strapped on a bed, the roar was miniscule? What was different then that wasn't now? I thought it over, my mind racing over all the times I had tried to open myself up to Nature; the first had been in class and I hadn't been able to find anything except the second heartbeat, the second had been at home and that time had been the roar, the next day again I had experienced the roar. Now it was gone.

Earth, I thought and I was a little disappointed. I thought that when I finally knew the name of my affinity there might be some feeling in me that solidified my thoughts, a feeling of rightness in the fact that I had finally discovered it. But no, it was just a realisation just as any realisation and again it helped solidify how hopeless this situation was.

I didn't know how to channel magic from other sources of power and the ease that came with tapping into the earth was non-existent. Maybe if I had my feet on the ground it would help me reconnect to Nature, but was it solid ground or the earth?

"Guy," I said, what could it hurt? "I need to use it."

The man groaned and got to his feet. "Don't try anything," he said. He unfastened the chains on my legs then my arms.

I got up, rubbing my wrists as I did and winced. "Get on with it," the man said a slight bit annoyed. I got to my feet, feeling blood rush painfully through my legs.

Opening myself to Nature unfortunately brought nothing. I didn't stop, even as the taller man gave me a shove towards the bathroom. He followed me inside. "Uhm…privacy."

The man chortled. "I'm not stupid enough to leave a witch alone. Go about your business."

I sighed, taking a look at the man. I could probably take him if I didn't react as badly as after I had when I had pushed away Stefan, but the moment I opened my mouth he would be on me. I dithered, the man behind me. I could feel his eyes.

"Okay, this is all kinds of creepy," I told him. "Never mind. Tie me up again, it's easier than this."

"Whatever," the man said and he got me out of my way. I entered the room again and with clear sight on the curtain, I felt stupid for the idea not having hit me sooner.

"Motus," I said already bolting forward. The curtain flew open, sunlight streaming into the room. I heard the hiss of burning flesh and a shriek but I didn't look back. Another muttered spell and the door flew off its hinges.

I was outside; the rail the only thing that managed to stop me from falling a floor down. Left and right I looked before I bolted, headed towards the stairs. I couldn't trust anyone around here, everyone's actions could be compelled. The stairs were scaled in leaps, skipping two at a time so that I wouldn't—arms caught me and I tensed.

"Calm down," I heard, a male voice; the other man couldn't come out, I remembered, which meant.

I looked up and I was in Stefan's arms.

"Your grandmother sent me," Stefan said as my panicked state tried to pull back. "Everything's fine," he said, his voice oddly calming. "Where is he?"

"Room without a door," I answered after a moment trying to get my breath back. The run hadn't even been that long and already I felt fatigued. I suppose I could explain it away and say it was because I hadn't breakfast or something to that effect, but really it was because I'm a lazy bastard.

"Stay here," he said but I quickly shook my head.

"There's another one with daylight ring," I told him.

Stefan looked around before he paused. "Come with me and stay close." We scaled the stairs again and coming to the room. I could see the man bundled in the corner trying to keeping himself away from the sun. Stefan stalked in much like a predator, it scared a deeper part of me and I found myself slinking back and keeping myself at the threshold. I kept glancing back to make sure the other one wouldn't sneak up and grab me at the throat.

"Who are you?" Stefan asked, moving ever closer the man. The other vampire didn't answer, keeping low in his hiding. Stefan sighed. "I don't often relish in torture," he said, "but sometimes it's a necessity. Like now, for example. An unknown pair of vampires struts into Mystic Falls and kidnaps a witch. That screams of suspicious to me."

The man was looking up at this point, eyes filled with loathing staring at Stefan. The vampire seemed unfazed though, he serenely walked over to a small wooden table and pulled a leg off, he twirled it around his mind in a motion that wasn't threatening at all but it seemed to disturb the vampire on the floor.

"This would be all the easier if you just talked," said Stefan, his voice eerily calm. "Who are you?" When the man didn't answer Stefan was already on the other side of the bed, hauling the man up and driving a stake through his stomach.

The man screamed, his flesh already turning red as he was in direct sunlight. A few seconds and he was aflame; Stefan already on the other side of the room closing the curtain.

"What's going on?" I heard as I was startled by a man coming out in the next room. I had been transfixed by the sight of a man being tortured in front of me.

I didn't get a chance to answer; there was a rush of wind in front of me and then Stefan was in front of the man looking deeply in his eyes. The man took a startled step back, but he was held captive by the eyes.

"Don't pay attention to what's happening in the next room," Stefan said, his tone quiet. "Go back inside and stay there."

After a moment, then man gave a quiet nod and walked off. Stefan spared me a glance as he passed by before he returned to the vampire who had pulled the stake out and was glaring at Stefan. It occurred to me though I had had a rational fear of vampires from the very beginning, it had been vastly underestimating their danger. Watching the show as religiously as I had—at least that was the impression I got when I thought of it—a sense of desensitisation had occurred. I knew they were dangerous, but with how easily hunters could take them down I'd been thinking that I, as a witch, would have absolutely no problems in dealing with them.

Now though, I was having second thoughts. The way Stefan moved alone scared me, it was like watching a beast at work, toying with its prey before it devoured it. That I was still alive was luck; if the vampire had had a daylight ring I shudder to think what might have happened with my little stunt of opening the curtain.

"Noah," I heard the man finally say after the curtains had been opened and closed a few times. "My name's Noah."

"Good," said Stefan and he sound pleased, as though talking to a dog that had followed an order and was now being rewarded. "Let's see if this you answer quicker this time. Why are you here? Why did you kidnap Micah?" he said with quirk of the head in my direction.

He knew my name, it wasn't inconceivable that he might, being the brother of the best friend of his girlfriend (where they even a thing yet?), but it still was shocking when taken in with everything else that had happened.

"We wanted to open the tomb," Noah said. "We knew we'd need a Bennett witch. He fit the bill with how easily he was able to take you down."

I might have been imagined, but I thought I saw Stefan's jaw clench at that. I should really apologise about that, a part of me thought, and I should do it soon.

"You say we? Who's the other vampire?" Stefan asked.

"That, I'm not going to tell you," Noah said, his expression turning resolute.

"I believe you," said Stefan and I knew what he would do, so did Noah it seemed because stood tall, staring down Stefan with barely hidden fear.

Like I said, there was the feeling that the show had desensitised me to vampires, but not only their danger, but they're deaths too. A vampire that wasn't part of the main cast had a low survival rate in the show, the fact that I couldn't remember Noah in the slightest spoke of the long line of death that had happened. Where I on the outside, watching all this, I might have thought him an extra, his death not deserving sympathy; but right now, with the man in front of me and knowing he would die, I could not help but be empathetic to his plight.

But I couldn't act either way. Stefan opened the window and the man began to slink back, trying to hide. Stefan however, wasn't going to have it; with motions I could barely perceive he moved, stake in hand, and plunged it through the man's heart. The process that had become a staple in the series happened in front of me in slow motion, grey lines slowly drew themselves, his skin taking on an unhealthy colour and a look of pure agony on him.

I couldn't blink as I watched, a state of panic engulfing me and implanting me on the spot. Stefan sighed as he turned to look at me, his expression of deep remorse but it was trying to put on a strong façade.

"You're probably in shock," he said walking towards me. I took an unconscious step back and he stopped. "He would have come after you again," Stefan said. "Bad as this is, it was the best solution to what would have been a drawn out game of cat and mouse in which a lot of people died."

The words, I felt, were much for his comfort as was mine. But they did nothing to pass through my addled psyche. Right now I was at the point where I was the most scared I had ever been, the most shaken I had ever been. This would be my new normality, watching people die and trying to rationalise it with myself that it was for the greater good. It all started with this; started with one death, a vampire being here and seeing Elena's resemblance to Kathrine before it all went south.

My breaths were coming in pants, my head lighter and edges of darkness descending on all sides. Damn, I was going to faint, wasn't I? Because more than anything I knew I was beyond the point where I could calm myself.

"Breathe," I heard through the panic. "Slowly." He repeated those words in a soft soothing voice and I could feel myself grow calmer by the repetition. The edges of darkness moved away until I was back to myself.

"That was mildly embarrassing," I muttered. I was sitting on the bed I had been bound in before and Noah's body covered by a blanket. How those two things had happened without my notice I couldn't really say, but it was bad either way. Vampires, werewolves and witches; watching it all was the epitome of exciting, but going through the motions were something else. This was real and it hit me that I wasn't prepared. Not just in terms of magical power, but mentally as well. Seeing someone die was one of those things I didn't think I would get used to quickly.

"It's normal," said Stefan. "Seeing someone die is something that unsettles every one of us."

"You seem unperturbed," I said.

"I'm long-lived," said Stefan. "So long that morality has taken on a different meaning. The lines blurred until they're almost imperceptible."

"That's…"

"Bad," said Stefan. "I know. Morality is supposed to be one of those constants right? But I've seen the shifts between what was moral and immoral. It sort of makes things confusing in the long term." Stefan sighed. "I should move the body," he said. "Ensure that the other tenants haven't called the police or something. I'll make it quick."

I gave him a nod, turning inward to my thoughts. There was still the other vampire to worry about, she would be after me again if she wanted that tomb opened, if she didn't find out about Bonnie that was. Something that worried me even more than the thought of them using me. I would need to figure this all out: how it all connected together, this tomb, the vampires, everything.

Stefan came back after a few minutes and moved the body, there was nothing he could do about the door. But at least he said the motel would be so lined with finger prints that when it was eventually investigated, ours would be lost in the flood.

We left for the car and descended into silence.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

What I came home to was certainly unexpected. My father stood on the porch as Stefan's car pulled into the driveway. His expression was stern, his arms folded and a smouldering look directed at the slowly moving car. My heart began to beat faster, a surge of adrenaline flowing through me as the car came to a complete stop.

"Thank you, Stefan," I said. "For saving me. And sorry for the whole pushing you thing."

"You were defending yourself," said the vampire beside me. "I've lived long enough that is should have known not to just walk up to a witch. Particularly one that's been drinking."

"Don't tell that to anyone," I said in something of a whisper. "I'm really not supposed to be doing that."

"Consider your secret kept," said Stefan with a slight smile. He looked out towards my father and quickly back at me. "You'd better go before your father glares a hole through my windscreen."

I let out a long breath. Stefan had told me through the car ride that my father hadn't been told of my abduction, to him I had spent the night at a friend's and not answered my phone—a phone I had lost another issue on top of it all. So after I left the car I would have to act as if everything was okay. I would have to go out there and pretend as though I hadn't just seen someone killed.

My motions were sluggish as I got out of the car. Every step measures and an obscene amount of thought put into a single movement. It goes without saying that walking to the porch took a full minute.

"What's my rule?" my father said, his voice calm but faced with an undertone of anger.

"Always call," I said, my voice shaking, emotions I hadn't known I was experience coming from. "Dad, I'm sorry." My voice broke and my breath hitched. I couldn't quite understand it but my body moved of its own volition and I was hugging my dad.

I could feel him tense, more so when my breath hitched, my heartbeat rose and tears started pouring out of my eyes. In that moment my thoughts were fervent, considering everything I would be faced with: how did the people in the series deal with this? It seemed highly unlikely that all of them would not come out of the situation unhinged. They watched people die all the time, friends, family and even strangers, but the result was still the same. THEY WATCHED PEOPLE DIE. Yet they were alright.

A sense of dread overcame me. I had to nip this in the bud before many others died.

"Micah?" my father was saying, not for the first time. "Tell me what's wrong son, was it that boy?"

I shook my head. "There are vampires in Mystic Falls," I told him. He knew about magic, there was no chance at all that he didn't know about vampires. They certainly didn't keep themselves as hidden as witches. "One of them kidnapped me," I said, the words coming out in a rush. "But Stefan saved me. He killed one but there's still another out there and she wants a witch—"

"Micah," my father said. "Calm down. Breathe." I noticed that again my breathing came harder and more frequent, dark edges lining my sight. I was going to lose consciousness. I tried heeding my father's words, breathing in long slow breaths and eventually I was able to come down. "Come inside," he said. "Tell me everything."

We walked into the living room, stopping short as at the sight of Bonnie barring our way. Her shoulders were shaking as she looked between us. "I'm sorry," she said, tears streaming from her eyes. "I wanted to tell you but I thought you would be in danger if you knew about them."

"Does your grandmother know about this?" dad asked, his voice hot but glacial. I felt almost uncomfortable standing next to him. Bonnie said nothing but nodded. "Both of you in the living room. Give me a moment," and he walked off, pulling out his phone as he did.

"Are you okay?" Bonnie asked.

"Physically fine," I answered. "Emotionally." I shook my head. There was too much I didn't know much about psychology to say for sure, but I knew enough to know this would mess me up. "I don't remember much of what happened last night, though? Can you fill in the blanks?"

She nodded. "Elena says you attacked Stefan?" I didn't need to nod, my expression was enough. "Well, after that he told the both of you to run. You tried to do a spell and feinted. Stefan couldn't help you because you were bleeding and he didn't think he could stand to be too close to blood. That's when the vampires came out of nowhere. One of them took you while the other tried to catch Elena. Stefan came back in time to save her but he wasn't strong enough to take care of him and search for you."

"They wanted a Bennett witch," I found myself saying, to be in my own thoughts was far better than thinking over my near death. "They wanted it because of a tomb. Do you know anything about that?"

"No," said Bonnie, struck off her train of thought. "Is that what we should be focusing on?"

"Yes," I said. "Stefan killed one vampire of the pair. The other one's out there, still looking for a Bennett witch. To what ends will she go to get one of us? We need to figure out exactly what she wants and arm ourselves."

"You'll do nothing of the kind." I started at his voice. For a large man my father could be quieter than a cat. "It's time I told you something," he said. "Both of you." We waited as my father took a breath, his eyes casting down as he thought. "Roughly eleven years ago a vampire came into town. He was old and powerful, to the lengths that even your grandmother couldn't take her on. But your mother could." I felt my heart clench and heard Bonnie's breath hitch. "She led him off town and took him down, and that was the last we ever heard from her." Dad stopped, taking a shaky breath. "You'll understand then, that I don't want you two getting involved with vampires. I don't want to lose you."

"But we need protection," Bonnie said. "If it's like Micah says and they're after us—"

"I'll take care of it," dad interrupted. "I'm your father. It's my duty to protect you."

"I'm sorry, dad, but how are you going to take care of a vampire on your own?" I asked. "They're stronger and faster. They're older and much more powerful. It seems like a suicide mission."

"Let me worry about that," he said. "In the meantime it will be as though both of you are grounded. Home and school. You're safest at home and you're not allowed to invite anyone in. At all. Not even this Stefan guy. I don't trust him. Your grandmother's agreed to tutor the both of you here from now on. I'll expect you to tell the Gilberts. I'll tell the rest of the Council before night comes. This cannot stand."

Another clench of my heart. Dad hadn't been involved with the council, that was a butterfly I had stepped on and whose effect I couldn't know. I knew one thing though, by the fifth season, Sheriff Forbes was the only one of the Council to survive—I was hit by the vivid flash of my father's throat getting cut by someone that looked too much like Stefan. Silas.

"Be careful, dad. She's likely to be dangerous."

"I know," dad said. "But have a little more faith in your old man. We'll take care of this." The words didn't bring me much confidence, nor did Bonnie for that matter if I was reading expression correctly—which I most certainly was. I gave him another hug and a moment later Bonnie joined us. "I need to make another call," said dad. "You two give me a moment."

I nodded numbly, moving to make my way onto a couch, my mind far off as I thought. Tomb. The word should have meaning. I got the feeling that I paid particular attention to the magical aspects of the Vampire Diaries universe and that I could not remember this tomb was worrying. But it was important.

Important enough that a pair of vampires had kidnapped a witch. A Bennett witch of all things, my family line was powerful, born of the strongest of witch kind, and yet these vampires had the courage to try and kidnap me. If this was a story—and were I not emotionally involved I would have thought of it as such—this would be the mystery I would be trying to solve.

"What are you thinking?" asked Bonnie, jerking from my thoughts.

I looked her over. I trusted her. "I'm thinking about this tomb," I said, my voice low without my meaning. "They were willing to kidnap me to get at it. That means it must be majorly important."

"You're thinking we look into it," said Bonnie.

I shrugged. "Not on our own," I said, a frowning drawn across my features; at that moment I was thinking Stefan. "Why didn't he ask about the tomb?"

"What?"

"Stefan," I said. I shivered as the memory of the interrogation hit me, my heart beating heavily beneath my chest. Breathe, I thought. People kept telling me as such when I was panicking, that I needed to breathe. It worked after a few seconds, my heart slowed again and I found my thoughts clearer. Bonnie still waited for me to answer.

"When he was questioning on one of the vampires who had me captured. He asked what they wanted and the guy said to open a tomb. He didn't question it further though. That's suspicious."

"You think he knows something?" Bonnie asked.

"Maybe. I'll have to ask him," I muttered. We spent a few moments in silence, me lost in my thoughts and Bonnie looking at me with a worried expression I deftly ignored. If things were going to start up, then being in the thick of it was my protection; it was probably stupid to think this some book or television series, but there was power in being genre savvy, a sort of influence that would afford me armour against death; or were such thoughts too abstract for real life?

I'm straying. Focus on the situation at hand. The tomb. I took a breath and tried focusing on remembering. I felt the vague feelings of a life before this, of having parents and siblings I had been fond of. I could feel that years had passed but the exact number of which was one I couldn't tell. I tried reaching for the memories of Vampire Diaries in particular: There were flashes of course, things I had watched, the Travellers, Silas and Qetsiyah being the most prominent, but beyond that I couldn't get anything.

I let out a sigh. This was frustrating. I knew the future and yet it wouldn't be useful until a few more years had passed. I could see no sense in this happening.

Then don't focus on that which you don't know, I thought. Focus on what you can do now and right now I could warn my friends. Speaking of which.

"Is Elena alright?" I asked.

I noted a sense of relief on Bonnie's features, but I couldn't understand why. "She's fine. A bit bruised from Stefan throwing her into a tree but overall she's fine. She was worried about you though, she and Jeremy."

"Jeremy knows?" it caught me by surprise, but then why? Wasn't it me that was going around saying stuff that had not been said in the series? There would no longer be secrets. Which overall was a good thing, no secrets meant that none of us would be taken by surprise.

"Yeah. He wanted to tag along with Stefan but he said it would be dangerous. Speaking of which, I should probably call and tell him you're alright."

"We should talk about protection too," I told her. "If this vampire will come again then Jeremy and Elena have to be immune to compulsion." I noted Bonnie's expression had changed again, but I put that thought off. It didn't matter. I already had Vervain which made protection a little easier.

The thought passed however that all of this would be so much easier with magic.

"Motus," I said with a glare and the kitchen table; it jumped into the air and stayed there, an extension of my will. There was so much I didn't know about this spell. Yes it had saved me, but it had been the cause of me being captured in the first place.

I still didn't understand how the drain worked.

I took a breath and focused my thoughts. Continual work of the spell took away from what I imagined was my magical core, but with Stefan it hadn't been true. I had succeeded in moving him, but then it had left me weak. So weak in fact that when I had tried to move Elena I had been knocked out.

Hypothesis: The drain was a lot stronger when it came to vampires.

Why? What was so special about vampires that they affected the drain on my magic differently than ordinary objects and people?

The simple answer was magic. Vampires were bound by an old spell. Did that have a hand in the drain and if so was it true for other supernatural creatures?

I should have been writing these questions down because they might help me gain a deeper understanding of everything. The way magic worked, the way to ultimate power and a way to ensure that I wouldn't have another episode where I was knocked out again.

"Motus," I said, focusing on the couch I sat on. I felt it slowly rise into the air, a connection having spread from me to it: the connections I didn't pay attention to, instead I tried to focus on the drain. Usually it would be a headache, the world shaking and me losing my place when up became down. I wanted to feel the exact point where that started to happen.

Five minutes I must have spent with those two object hovering in the air and yet I could feel nothing. I wondered if perhaps I couldn't feel the drain until it was too late; I got the impulse to wipe my nose, maybe a subconscious part of me having realised that fatigue was often shown by the psychic nosebleed, and came up with nothing. At least that was a good point to it all.

I cut off the connection between me and the two objects and they promptly dropped, landing with harsh thuds on the floor. There was motion in the other rooms, but I didn't pay much attention to it. Instead I sat back, my head rolling back and my eyes closing as I tried to stay in thought, somewhere through it all I must have fallen asleep.

* * *

AN: This is not the spin-off of A Harry's Journal but another story. I haven't abandoned plans of writing the spin-off, but it occurred to me that I had made the magic system in TVD too similar to the magical system in the Harry Potter universe. This has led to an amount of writer's block when considering a character that will only be using the magic in TVD universe.

I have thus started editing A Hero's Journal, fixing the magic so it can stand on its own legs and changing a few things that, in retrospect, have no relevance in the story. It will take a while considering it is my longest work, but at every moment that I have free I've been tackling it. This story is an attempt learn the magic of the universe as I would go about it in that world.

The ideas on magic that will be discovered in this universe, will be ones that are a constant through the parallel universes. I'm not planning that they interact, but I don't usually plan my stories beyond that a certain event will happened in the future.

It's a self-insert, be warned, so there might be a bit of Gary-Stu-ness that might bleed into the work, call me out on that. But beyond that enjoy the story.

Update will be slow. I don't have as much time to write as I'm used to. Studying hard and whatnot.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The small nap I had ended pretty quickly, the moment I pulled into a dream I could see her standing over me, shorter than I was, her hair curly and almost a black brown, and her eyes veiny in the way I knew of hunger.

My eyes flew open, my heart already going a mile a minute as it futilely to escape from my body through my throat. My breath came in fervent pants and even in my attempts to calm myself were doing nothing.

Breathe, I kept telling myself. Slow, even breaths.

It took a few minutes, but I finally managed to slow it down to the point that my mind worked as it should.

The walls around me were a dull blue, no posters on the wall; a small bookcase in the corner to my right along with a desk and a laptop; the closet door was to my left, the window on the wall right next to it, looking out to a stretch of trees that gave me chills as I looked at them with the clear notion that I couldn't protect myself.

She could be right there. Standing amidst the shadows of the night, looking towards the house. Only stopped by the thin protection of being unable to get into the house. But if I were vampire I would already have thought of countermeasure to ensure that the magical protection was rendered redundant, after all it didn't take a lot to compel a guy with a gun to take out an entire family save for the one I wanted…

You're not doing anything in calming yourself down, Micah, I thought as I felt my stomach doing flips. By Nature's will, please don't let her think of that.

I lay back on my bed, staring at the ceiling. What had felt like a short nap was the entire day gone, my dad must have moved me from the living room to my room when they'd noticed I wasn't about to wake up any time soon. Had I been that tired? I tried to remember but I came up with nothing, the only thing my mind could focus on was that I had cast a spell before falling asleep.

"Correlation does not mean causation," I muttered to myself. The event which had passed today had been draining, mentally if not physically, it made sense that I would be tired, never mind the times I'd cast spells today.

I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Bonnie calling Jeremy when she'd found out I was asleep. I felt an amount of guilt knowing he had wasted gas coming here for nothing, but at this point there was no use crying over spilt milk.

The mystery I thought, as I felt my mind slowly creep back towards the girl. Focus on the mystery. The Tomb. Stefan knew about it or he at least knew enough that he wasn't curious when Noah mentioned it. He would be my go to guy, if I knew what the girl wanted from inside the tomb, then I had leverage. Why I needed leverage was something I wasn't entirely sure on yet, but it never hurt to have a vampire on my side.

That mystery was going to get solved pretty quickly, I thought letting out a huff of a breath. But then I knew the future, it went without saying that when I got into the swing of things and I'd effectively had, more or less, things would get easier.

A small weight left my shoulders and with this I managed quite quickly to fall asleep again.

Grams had a real flare for the dramatic, I thought as I sat in one of the two chairs settled in the lonely room. Bonnie sat beside me, both of us staring at a table that sat in front of us, two jars filled with water and thin straws tied together atop it. The room around us was bear, I knew it as being a study, but Grams must have packed away all her book the previous day; a circle of salt surrounding both Bonnie and me, candles giving a low red glow from outside the circle.

Chagrin touched my features as I glared at my jar. Grams hadn't hidden the Boundary Spell from us, she'd deposited the mound of salt and quickly said the spell, words leaving her lips so swiftly that the moment one word had entered my memory most of the others had already left.

How did she remember such a long spell? And how was it said so quickly?

"This spell is simple," Grams said. She stood outside the circle, the only protected between her and our bursts of magic. What protected us from each other I wasn't really sure, but I could trust that Grams knew what she was doing as she had trained our mother in witchcraft.

"One of the spells most widely known by witches as it evens the playing field with supernatural creatures. I don't know if you've noticed this, but the spell both of you know, The Spell of Motion, has one constraint that makes it unviable for a fight. The spell does not work on weight in the normal means, instead it weighs in the standard of magical weight. Objects infused with power will draw more power from you, and the more power that they hold, the more power it will draw from you to move them."

My thoughts on the matter. If that was true, then moving Stefan was about the worst idea possible because he was both a doppelganger and a vampire.

Live and learn.

"This spell works on a whole different principle. Its works by focusing small bursts of power into the brain, bursting blood vessels until those who fall prey to the spell are incapacitated."

I shuddered at her words and Bonnie was doing the same beside me. "Isn't that dangerous?" she asked, something in her voice. Uncertainty perhaps, but I couldn't say for sure.

"To the mundane, yes," Grams answered. "But this is a weapon against the supernatural. Vampires and werewolves. Beasts that outmatch us in sheer strength and speed. This is our equaliser. They will eventually heal, but until then you will have time to either run or…run. Always run. Now. Both of you. I want you to focus on one straw. This exercise is about precision, not power. The darkest magic is the one which takes away a life, even from the undead. As witches it is our duty to respect all forms of life."

Focus. I took a breath and chose one straw, but beyond that I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do.

"The power of this spell is born of anger," Gram said, her voice eerily calm and soothing. "Remind yourself of an experience that brings you the most amount of anger and channel its power, directing it into a single straw."

That helped. My mind flit through memories of something that would make me angry, unadulterated anger that had made such an impact on me that even now the emotion would still be vivid. Memories of my past came to the forefront, feelings of anxiety the first time Bonnie and I had been separated in our classes, being forced to make new friends. The first time I'd been bullied in high school, being made a spectacle in the halls only to be saved by Matt.

My thoughts were broken by the sound of glass breaking and water splashing everywhere. The jar to the left, my jar, had broken into small pieces, water coating the table and the straws lying dangerously close to the circle of salt.

"Too much anger and not enough direction," Grams said, before she took a breath and changed into Latin. Again I tried to hold onto the words but they slipped my mind the moment I focused on another. When she was done, my jar was as it had been, on the table with the water and the straws within.

I tried again, this time focusing slowly on the memory that brought me anger for some reason: Matt saving me. I took a breath, my focus on a single—

I was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass and a splash of water on my face. Bonnie's jar had shattered as well.

This time Grams didn't need to repeat her spell. She blew between her thumb and middle finger and the jar was as it had been, no point of it fixing itself, just the jar going from being shattered into pieces, to being on the table again. I couldn't remember seeing any spell in the series that had that effect, but then again Vampire Diaries had focused too much on the vampire aspects and not enough on the witches. The Originals though had been more to my liking, it was a pity because of my death I had missed season two, from the looks of it, it would have been exciting to watch.

Back on the spell. We repeated, going over the spell over and over, not with much success. It was weird, but it seemed that Bonnie and I had a lot of anger because breaking the jars was the easiest thing, it was the direction that was the problem. I didn't have enough discipline that I could feel angry then focus on something else. The moment I felt angry, that anger overwhelmed me and the result was destructive.

An hour passed before we took our first break and I felt exhausted. Bonnie too by the way she threw herself on the couch.

"Here was me thinking this would be easier," she muttered before taking a large gulp of orange juice.

I hummed in agreement. "What did it take, two tries before we had the Motion Spell down cold?"

"Right?" Bonnie agreed. "What's so special about this spell? How does it work?"

"Incantation?" I said thinking out loud. "The Motion Spell had an incantation and maybe that was what made it easier. It puts less effort on us to focus and direct the spells, and does it automatically?"

"I call ass-pull."

"It totally was," I said with a slight chuckle. "What do you think about that spell Grams was casting?"

"Not much except that it's awesome," she said. "How long do you think before we're able to do something like that?"

"Ten years, give or take," Grams said, striding in from the kitchen. She carried with her a tray of muffins; Bonnie flicked her hand and a muffin flew into her outstretched hand.

"Motus," I tried, pulling with my mind, but all I got from the muffins was a little jerk. I pouted ruefully at having to wait until Grams put the tray on the table and having to reach to get a muffin.

Grams tsked, shaking her head. "As I was saying. Boundary Spells are a complicated piece of magic, more so when you're adding additional properties to the original spell."

"What properties did you add?" I asked, leaning forward and curiosity seeping into my tone.

Grams pulled out a small golden watch from her pocket, the old fashion kind often seen in old movies. The hands though seemed stuck to a point, unmoving.

"Every inanimate object within the boundary is linked to a certain point in time. The spell I said was an activation sequence, the state of every object then returns to the point it was linked to."

"Time travel?" It goes without saying that my tone was filled with awe beyond anything I had ever tried. "Time travel?" my voice was a slight bit higher. "Grams, you can send things through time?"

"It's not time travel," said Grams, she was much calmer than me. Great power must come with the greater power to not be surprised. "Nothing, to my knowledge, can travel through time. Except moving forward, that is," she amended.

"Can anything be linked to a point in time?" I asked. "Or does it explicitly have to be inanimate?"

Grams, who had been smiling a little, sobered. "You're treading dangerous ground, boy," she said. "I know what you're thinking. Many have had similar thoughts, but it only leads to darkness."

The words felt like a slap to the face, a rebuke that I didn't entirely deserve. It wasn't as thought I was thinking about immortality…okay, I was thinking along the lines of not dying. Imagine such a feat, making it so that each times severe damage happened to my body, the spell would activate and I would be alright again. But there would be logistics issues: Who would be the one activating the spell? What about the memories I would have acquired that would be lost because of a reboot? But the possibilities.

"Micah." I jerked from my thoughts, my eyes opened wider in question. "You have that look," Bonnie muttered.

"I was just thinking," I said before taking a bite out of my muffin. "Oh, right. I finally found my affinity," I said. "Earth. At least I think."

"How did it feel?" Grams asked.

"Like this second heartbeat roaring beside mine," I told her. "I might have imagined it, but there might have been a warmth there as well."

"Earth," Grams said, a look of consternation on her. "A sturdy element. More fit for defence than attack. Most who were adept at channelling earth have been known to be the greatest Boundaries."

I grinned. "That's an exciting prospect. Can I assume you'll teach me about the circle?"

"I'll be teaching you both all that I know," said Grams.

"What about you, Bonnie? I'll be good with Boundary Spells, what's fire often linked with?"

"Offensive spells and curses," said Bonnie. "Spells which, when given momentum, can inflict a lot of damage." I didn't get the feeling she was proud of that. I sure as hell would have been. Destruction was one of the most fun things to exist. Well, controlled destruction anyway.

"But that's not important yet," said Grams. "Eat up. The fastest way to get back your strength is with sugar. You have five minutes before you get back to practising the spell."

Five minutes quickly went and we were back in the room, in the modified boundary that filled me with excitement every time I considered the possibilities the modifications housed.

Unfortunately that excitement soon died because watching glass jars explode got boring after the fiftieth time.

When we left, we hadn't made much progress.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Bracelet, necklace and plant," I said as I handed the objects over to my father. He didn't say anything, but I could see the brown eyes so similar to my own looking at me, questioning but the words unable to pass through his lips.

I didn't honestly want him to ask, because if he did. I don't know what I answer I would give, but the one that rang foremost in my mind would be a lie. He took them, putting the bracelet and necklace on, and shoving the Vervain plant into his shirt pocket.

"You really shouldn't worry," dad said. "I'm going to be fine."

"At least you won't be doing this at night," Bonnie said. "That would be stupid."

I gave a nod. Then, she would be in her element, able to out match them in their attempts to kill her. But even so, even with their advantages, I felt dread an amount of dread.

"Why do you have to go too?" I asked. "Sherriff Forbes and the Deputies, I'm sure, can handle one vampire."

Dad shook his head. "There are about six deputies that know about vampires," he said, "and one member of the council that's willing to search the woods with us. They need all the numbers they can get."

"Then why isn't Grams helping?" I asked. "You could use a witch. Even the playing field."

"And how would we explain that?" dad asked. "Trust me. The Council is jaded against supernatural creatures. If they knew about both of you, who knows how they would react? They might turn their guns away from the vampires and instead them towards you. I can't take that chance."

"So you put yourself in danger?" My tone was sharp. "Dad. We could lose you too, something we don't want to happen."

"I'll be safe," dad said, with certainty. "Trust me."

I couldn't. Not really. But there wasn't much I could do about it. No one felt confident without capability, so my dad had to be capable of survival if not taking her out. I still felt the need that there be a plan B though, it might have been hubris on my power, that I was on a route to getting power, but I felt as though the sooner I found out about the tomb, the better we would all be.

This was at the front of my thoughts as Bonnie drove us to Jeremy's house.

Elena was already wearing the necklace I knew would be from Stefan, the one that would belong to the Original witch. Through the trip, with Jeremy sitting beside me and chatting on and me only half paying attention, I couldn't help noting how much power that thing would have. Power I could channel without trouble once I learnt how to consciously give direction to power.

I couldn't pay attention much during school, my thoughts returning mostly on the spell Grams had cast and her changing of the properties of a Boundary Spell. I tried recalling every Boundary Spell I had ever seen and none of them had been an equivalent to the one Grams had made. I supposed the Other Side could count along the same lengths, an endless Boundary Spell that, if you met a certain criteria, took you into itself and wouldn't let you pass on. But this spell worked on an abstract concept. Linking an object to a point in time? How was that even done?

Even with this marvel of a spell, that wasn't the part that got at me. I was sure as hell that Grams and Bonnie had never cast the spell on the show. Grams had died pretty early on, I couldn't really remember how but I still was going to make sure it didn't happen, and Bonnie might have not have had enough experience to pull off the intricacies of the spell. Even so, the fact that there were spells out there that I didn't know out, whose effects I couldn't predict, was worrying and exciting at the same time.

"Okay, Micah, what's up?" the words were spoken with enough force that they were able to filter through my thoughts.

It was lunch, food in front of us and Jeremy having been talking about something. "Lost in thought," I said after a moment were I tried to remember what he'd been saying.

"Thoughts about?"

I looked around, we were relatively farther from the various cliques spread out around us; far enough that none would be able to hear our conversation.

"Magic and the whole mess that is vampires," I answered, keeping my voice low.

"You still thinking about the vampire that's out there?"

"Partially," I said. "But right now I'm thinking about the way going forward. She wanted something, and I'm thinking, what's to stop other vampires from wanting what she wants."

"And what does she want?"

"To open some tomb. The details of witch I'm still not too sure about, but I'm thinking Stefan knows something. But I haven't seen him today."

Jeremy was frowning. "Do you think it's a good idea to actively seek out trouble?" he asked. "You might be in over your head."

"Better than me doing nothing," I answered absently. If I need nothing, if I didn't keep my mind on trying to neutralise the threat, then my mind would keep going over the possibilities of how she might be able to hurt my family. Right now my dad and a few others were trudging through the forest, searching for a predator. Maybe that would serve as an advantage, I thought, but that felt pretty thin.

Jeremy sighed. "Okay. Tell me all I need to know. What are you planning?"

"The girl wants something from this tomb she wants to open and Noah, the guy Stefan" I shuddered at the memory, "took out, mentioned that they needed a Bennett witch for the spell. Obviously they wouldn't go after Grams, she's too powerful for a lone vampire to handle, which means the girl will go either after me again, or Bonnie."

"Easiest solution would be making sure she was no longer lone," Jeremy said. "More vampires to take the heat." At my frown Jeremy said, "Sheriff Forbes was at my house Saturday night, she told Jenna that a curfew was in effect. Wolves in the area."

"How come I didn't hear anything about this?"

"Because no one's actually paying attention," said Jeremy. "Not that I blame them. It's got a mixed messages feel to it if you aren't in the know. The Lockwoods are having some sort of party this coming weekend."

"Maybe their confident they will have found the vampire by then," I said, though that was highly unlikely.

"More stupid than anything to me," Jeremy muttered. "But they're older, and age is supposed to have wisdom or something stupid like that."

"It's only stupid without context," I said, "and there's a lot we don't know. But something I do know is that you need protection. I'll need two objects of yours, something you'll always have on." I pulled out one of my Vervain plants and handed it over. "You should also always keep this on your—" I stopped as someone ventured to close for me to continue with the conversation.

"Micah Bennett," she said. She was taller than the average girl in school, almost my height, her skin pale and with long brown hair. "Who would have known you were a stoner."

"Vicki," my tone was filled with an amount of contempt. Jeremy tensed. I didn't like her. It was pretty biased on my part. The thing between her and Jeremy was unhealthy at best, more so since Jeremy, irrespective of what he said, seemed to genuinely like her.

"Hello to you too," she said. "I'm good. Yes. The weather is beautiful though it looks like it might rain tomorrow."

"What do you want, Vik?" asked Jeremy, his voice terse yet still dopey.

"I'm hoping we can, you know, hang out later."

"Yeah. Sure. Totally."

Looking between them I couldn't help but get the feeling of a fox looking at a delicious little puppy, watching it with hungry eyes…did foxes even eat puppies? I mentally gave a shake of the head, it didn't matter. Foxes were crafty, puppies were innocent, the metaphor still held.

"I'll meat you after the last class then," said Vicki with a wry grin directed at Jeremy. She gave me one last look, one that made my stomach churn, before she sauntered off.

Why was that? I asked myself, frowning in confusion. Why did I not like her so much? The feelings weren't the same for his brother. Matt wasn't my favourite person, then again I didn't know the guy too well, but I didn't outright loathe him.

"I know you don't like her," said Jeremy. "But she's really cool?"

"Is she? I thought you were done following her around like a lovesick puppy."

"I am," said Jeremy. "This is just hanging out."

"Just be careful Jeremy, remember you just called the Lockwoods stupid for wanting to hold a party on Saturday."

"Yeah, whatever, and I'll have this," he said taking the plant and looking it over. "What is this?"

"Vervain. It's why I missed school Friday, had to drive two hours to buy this stuff from some witch slash vampire hunter. She almost shot my head off." Jeremy's eyes grew a fraction bigger. "She didn't though. Turns out the whole selling Vervain thing was a lure for vampires that might try and go after her for it."

"Did you tell Bonnie about this?"

"Of course not, you don't know my sister when she's worried. She can get real motherly. It would be annoying if it weren't so heart-warming."

"Okay. So she almost kills you, then what?"

"I told her I was a witch too and that I had a vampire problem. She seemed to help after that."

"You live a crazy life," said Jeremy with a shake of the head. There was a bell and slow and sluggish motion as we gathered ourselves and moved on to the next torturous classes.

The day passed without me seeing any sign of Stefan and I watched as Jeremy left with Vicki. The two of them leaving did not give me a good feeling. But I had work to do, work that involved trying to channel my anger into a single straw inside an enchanted circle.

Two hours and our lessons ended. We hadn't made any success.

I got home and made notes on my journal, scripting down what Grams had told me about the Motion Spell, most of which I had already suspected. But righting it down made the notion clearer in my mind, I couldn't depend on the Motion Spell. It was more liable to get me killed than save, especially if I used it directly on supernatural creatures.

My focus now had to be on the spell we were learning.

The next day was much the same as the last, but instead of going out, dad had work to get to. Stefan again didn't attend school and had I not seen Jeremy arriving, I would have thought the same of him, but then Vicki was involved. We had to go to Grams' an hour later because Bonnie had cheerleading practise, a task I had never understood, but then again me and sports weren't two things that went together.

Another miss and right now I was starting to get annoyed. How could a simple spell be this hard? I had been five and I had been able to successfully attempt the Motion Spell and yet here I was stumped. The following day was worse for me than any other, as soon as I thought of a situation that made me angry the whole jar blew apart. Over and over again until Grams called an early end to training.

"We'll figure it out," said Bonnie from the passenger's seat, though I wasn't listening to her. If this spell wasn't working out, then why wasn't Grams teaching us another? Surely she could see that we were failing at it.

I hated this feeling. Absolutely loathed it. Failing over and over. It wasn't something I had grown accustomed to. Books had been easy for me. It was true I didn't have genius level intellect, but being slightly above average was something I hadn't worked hard for. But now that I was actually putting in the work, my focus devoted entirely to the task at hand, I failed more than I was used to.

When I got home, I locked myself in my room and began working with the Motion Spell. Trying to shape my mind so that it could work the small objects as easy as it worked the larger ones. This too didn't work and this time, this left me feeling angrier than I should have.

Why? I asked myself. The moment I figure out that, then maybe things would be easier, and if they were not easier then at least I would understand.

Why was the spell not working?

I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling and waiting for the answer to pop into my head. Nothing came, which meant I had to form ideas before trying to figure out how the spell worked. I waited and nothing came, but the reason behind that was easier to get. I didn't have enough knowledge of magic to make those guesses.

Equate magic to something mundane, I thought. I'm in the learning phases and what did they do then? I took a breath and searched my memory for how children were taught. I couldn't get much, but the one thing I remembered was a lot of playing. Memories that far back were foggy because I had memories further back that I thought were of more import.

Okay, I couldn't remember how children were thought, but I could make guesses. I took a breath. If I wanted to teach a child to write, get their hand to correctly hold a pencil, I would first give them something big for their clumsy hands to hold on, before progressively getting smaller.

Of course something like that would take a very long time to achieve. But it was the natural route to progress. I got up and tried again, focusing my mind on the Motus Spell so I could move small objects; getting my metaphorical clumsy hand to effectively into being able to wield a quill-pen.

All of it was about focus and direction, being precise. That much Grams had repeated enough times that it was like a mantra in my head. I wanted so badly to go outside and feeling my elemental affinity, feeling the power that it would afford me when I eventually learned to control it.

Bonnie's scream broke me from my concentration. It took a moment before my mind catalogued it into a scream of glee. I took a glance at her jar and there was one straw that had raptured in the middle. She was on her feet, a large smile painted on her face and jumping up and down.

"Congratulations," said Grams, though she didn't look the slightest bit surprised. "You just stopped a vampire for a millisecond. But in that time you jumped in joy he got his hands on your throat and killed you."

Bonnie sobered and I felt a shiver run through my spine. "Morbid," I muttered.

"And all too real," Grams said. She sat on the other side of the salt circle, reading what looked like an assignment in a bored manner and a tape moving across a set of words with a yellow highlighter. "Your father tells me the search for the vampire who kidnapped you has gone cold. There are currently plans to find her but they are taking longer than expected to come into fruition. However their plans should not mean you take your lessons any less seriously.

"This vampire has gone quiet. Which is more worrying. She might be watching us from afar, taking in how we operate before she attacks. We need to be on our guard, and that means the three of us being able to protect ourselves when we need to."

It seemed I wasn't the only one considering the vampire issue. I felt oddly safer. I was mentally older than my sixteen, soon seventeen, year old but Grams knew more of this world than I and if she was on the case then it would be solved much quicker. The thought hit me, was she working with Stefan?

Three groups, if I counted myself, but then again I wasn't doing much beyond speculating. All of which were poised to attack her. She wouldn't know this but she might guess it if she knew the history of Mystic Falls, and judging from how Noah had reacted she did. The girl would be on her guard, more so than me or Bonnie or Grams. She would be acting with the notion that though she was stronger and faster, she was working at a disadvantage.

"Keep working," said Grams. "In one second I want to burst three straws simultaneously."

Anger and focus, directed at one point, I kept thinking. I looked at the straw Bonnie had burst. She had focused on the centre, maybe I should do the same. I took a breath and remembered the anger, before it could overwhelm me I directed it at one place; it didn't work the first time but as I spent more time doing it I noticed that I was closer. The water would bubble and boil before it broke apart.

Bonnie too seemed to have figured it out as within fifteen minutes she had broken another straw.

The anger of being outmatched was there, but unlike the day before I channelled it, used it as my source of fuel instead of digging for the anger of memories past. I hit my first straw at the dead centre and it burst but I didn't allow myself the joy, I used the momentum going forward and broke and second, a third and a fourth before I started to feel tired. Feeling the anger begin to wane and the spell losing substance.

It became easier with that initial burst and from then on it became about riding the momentum before the anger faded and the spell was left without fuel. The bad part though was that for about fifteen minutes after the bout of anger was spent, I couldn't use the same memory again to fuel the spell.

I looked at the salt that bordered us. Didn't it make more sense to fuel a spell by something of Nature? I took a breath, closed my eyes and opened myself up. It took some time, my mind reaching blindly, before it felt it, felt the power coursing through the circle, felt the circle itself. I let that power move through me, filling me up until my teeth almost ached, my skin uncomfortable in its effort for release: I did as I had done with my anger, directed it at a single straw before I pushed it forward.

There was a large dry explosion. Bonnie and I were knocked back, bits of wood and glass shooting around us, stopped only by the circle of salt from going beyond. I could hear a sharp ringing, my head didn't hurt as such but I felt lighter. I slowly looked up and at Bonnie, whose expression was solely of confusion.

Grams' chuckle caught me off-guard. "Which of you was it?" she asked.

Bonnie's expression went over the edge of confusion.

"Me," I said, embarrassment tinging my tone.

"When you first learn to shoot," Grams said, with mild amusement. "Never start with the machine gun."

Slowly we got up, brushing off the pieces of wood that had been the table and glass for the jars. I looked myself over and found nothing in the way of scars. "Why aren't we hurt?" I asked.

"Protection spell," said Grams. She sighed. "Of course now it's spent. Which means we'll have to end lessons for today."

"Why?" I asked and both Grams and Bonnie gave me a look that spoke volumes for what they thought of my sanity. "I mean why is the spell spent when the worst that could have happened to us are a few nicks?"

"Because it isn't my forte for one," said Grams, "and for the other my fuel source was not up to the task." She stood, said a quick few Latin phrases and the circle of salt broke. "Until I can cook up another Protection spell you two can't practise. So for the next few hours that are left for your lessons, we'll be dealing with the theoretical aspects of magic. Follow me."

She left, headed for the living room.

"What did you do?" Bonnie asked in a whisper as we walked.

"I tried to channel the salt," I said. "I noted that anger seemed redundant an emotion to sustain the spell and looked to the elements."

Bonnie frowned. "Is it?" she asked.

"Yeah. Is it not the same for you?"

Bonnie shook her head. "I feel a little tired with each straw that I pop, but further than that. No."

"It's starting to disconcert me how we're so different," I muttered. "You have a certain flare that I don't have. You anger runs longer and fuels the spells to a more substantial degree. Why?"

"That's the question," said Grams. "Why are both of you so different? Why would Bonnie be able to use the power of anger to a more effective degree than you? Thoughts?"

"You know the answer," said Bonnie. "Why don't you just tell us?"

Grams tsked. "Magic is about loopholes first and foremost. Every spell that can be done has a loophole, an aspects of itself that can be abused. All of these loopholes can be used by any witch if they can figure them out. Which means the greatest power for a witch is the ability to solve problem as swiftly as possible. Which returns us to the problem at hand, why are the two of you so different? From a magical stand point?"

"Our elemental affinities?" I said.

"What about them?"

"Their different," said Bonnie. "Earth and fire, one is greatest for attack while the other is for defence. It would make sense that Micah wouldn't be able hold onto attack for the longest time."

"True," said Grams. "To a point. But there's also how both of you work on an intrinsic level. How you experience emotion." Grams took a moment, before she said, "I want you to recall when you father told you of your mother's leaving. How did you feel?"

Bonnie didn't answer nor did I for that matter. How did I feel? I tried digging at it, looking for the hurt but I found nothing. My mother had left. I should have been angry, hurt, but the only thing I could think was that I hadn't formed any lasting emotional attachments before her leaving and thus why the pain didn't hit me.

Bonnie, I could see, was different. Her expression from shock to grief and then finally anger. Answer enough how she felt. Her emotions ran deeper than mine. Maybe they ran much deeper in general. Which meant more fuel for the spell.

"Micah," said Grams. "You look as though you've found the answer."

"I have," I said, which wasn't much of an answer, but not that I cared. The answer would a reflection on me. The way they looked at me. Grams must have known something was up, but what is something I couldn't guess at. "But I'd rather not say."

Grams inclined her head. "You two should know each other well enough that the answer will become evident. That's one mystery solved. Now the other. Micah. Tell us what you did that ended in the explosion."

"You taught us to open ourselves to Nature's power," I said. "At least our elemental affinity. The past week you've been teaching us to direct our anger. Anger is fuel as much as Nature's power. I had the idea to open myself to the power of the salt and channel it for the effects of the spell."

"Innovative thinking on your part," said Grams. "Now can you explain to me what went wrong? For lack of a better word?"

I shook my head. "My surest guess is that I couldn't control the power."

"Your control of the power was instinctive," said Grams. "It was perfect for the first time, especially unguided. That was not the problem."

I thought it over, but I could get nothing. I had fuelled the spell but further than that I couldn't spot the problem. A full five minutes passed with Bonnie and I remaining in silence before Grams asked, "What have you noticed about this spell in the last few days?"

"It's directed and precise," I answered.

"Yes, what else?"

"If you can't direct your anger then the spell manifests itself violently," said Bonnie. "The jar exploding."

"So what would happened if a witch, who hasn't mastered a spell requiring precision and is violent by nature, put too much power than was required for said spell?" asked Grams.

"Explosion," Bonnie and I said.

"So this spell has a maximum power requirement?" I asked.

"Most spells do," Grams answered. "Channelling is not a task for this grade of spells. One often channels when they need to do something big. A boundary spell for example, or if they wanted to move a very old vampire without feeling tired."

I made a mental note of that.

"How does power scale?" I asked. "I know using my core is restrictive and exhaustive. Then there are the elements and you said before that the spirits on the Other Side can be used for power. But what else?"

"Any recurring event," said Grams. "The sun, moon, an eclipse, a comet. Anything as long as it's recurring."

"Then how do the spirit give their power?" Bonnie asked. "They're not recurring."

"Are they not?" Grams asked. "The Bennetts are amongst the oldest of witch kind. Generation after generation of witches that managed to survive until we came here. Each generation, though different from the last, is still an event. But unlike the power of inanimate objects, the power from the spirits cannot be taken without permission."

My mind went to New Orleans and consecration. Divina still had access to the power of her ancestor even though she had been working against their wishes. But right her. Now. I had no place knowing that. I said nothing.

Blood, my thoughts said. Blood is another avenue that Grams isn't explicitly mentioning though not hiding. Would she think that dark magic? Because I was already considering the two doppelgangers I had on my hands and the amount of spellwork I could perform.

The conversation soon turned away from magic, treading the mundane territory of school and work. School, we told Grams, was overall uneventful. She told us she would be retiring soon, lamenting the fact that not as many witches passed by her as they had in the past.

"…but of course witches now-a-days are into new age stuff. These sites you youngsters are able to conjure up."

"People put up real spells on the internet?" Bonnie asked, her tone matching my feelings.

"Yes," said Grams. "Minor things I suspect, but I can't help but feel there's always an ulterior motive," she said. "Spells are power, and power is not something one wantonly gives away. I'm a teacher by trade and yet there's only one student I've let touch my grimoire. Not even your grandfather had that pleasure."

I leaned forward. Grams was not one to often speak about our grandfather nor his parting with her. I had thought he'd died until I was nine. "Can you tell us about him?"

Bonnie mirrored my body language, an almost hungry expression on her. For a second I thought Grams would close up. "His name was Jacob," she said. "A fine man. Strong, as one needed to be in that time. Quite the looker too. I think I was nineteen when we met. I had decided to take some time to travel before going to college. You grandmother didn't approve, but I was young and for the first time able to make my own decisions.

"I wanted to learn about other covens. I wanted to go back to Salem and see the sights. Your grandfather had the same idea. He asked to join me," she said with a small smile. "I didn't trust him at first, but then how can you trust a man that can cast a Cloaking spell so efficient that it renders him invisible?" She gave a chuckle. "To buy that trust, he taught me the counter-spell, which I worked into the Boundary Spells I would cast along my room and sometimes campsite. Since our purpose for the trip was the same we taught each other about or respective coven, found out that there had been interactions between our families." She sighed. "It was nice."

"And you got hitched soon after?" asked Bonnie.

Grams snorted. "The trip ended and we were pulled into various obligations. We lost touch for some time and when finally we met again…" She stopped and I could see her tensed, her eyes glazing over.

"Grams?" I said with worry.

"We had a few years of happiness," Grams said, her voice wavering. "Hidden from the world, but then the world found us."

She said no more and I got the feeling that if I asked that she expend on that, I wouldn't get an answer. We left it at that, because pretty soon the sun had set, and though both of us had made progress on the spell, we weren't likely to risk the chance that there might be a vampire out there.

When we got home as we enjoyed the dinner which dad had cooked and watched the news, there the first report that cemented Damon was back in town, an animal attack.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"They're really pushing this animal attack thing aren't they?" said Jeremy, reading over his own flier. I had one too, shoved deep within my back because knowing the truth I didn't think I needed it. "Do you think it's her?"

I shrugged. "Could be," I said. "But it doesn't fit what we know. The only reason we knew there was a vampire in the first place was because she and her friend kidnapped me. No animal attacks. No killings. But now, why?"

"Maybe she turned someone," said Jeremy. "She's amassing allies."

Something I hadn't thought about. Two days since the initial attack and my mind had set firmly on Damon, another attack on Thursday and it definitely had to be him. He was cocky, he believed that he wouldn't be caught, and it was past time that he showed up. My thoughts had been so stuck on that that it being the girl hadn't struck my mind.

"That makes her a whole lot dangerous," I said. "One vampire, sure I'm thinking the council can take it, but if there's another out there, and in the week they've had they've done nothing. It's worrying."

"I think it's a more worrying that they're focused on that Lockwoods are more focused on their party than finding her. Did you know that last night Tyler was at my house, his mom wanted to loan a clock for their Founder's day thing."

"A clock?"

"Yeah," said Jeremy, his voice softer. "My dad was supposed to give it to me before he died."

"Did you give it to him?"

He shook his head. "Elena convinced me that I should, but giving it to Tyler just rubs me the wrong way. I told him we couldn't find it."

"You know you're going to have to get over your hatred of the guy, right?"

Jeremy grimaced. "When you start liking Vicki," he returned.

It was my turn to grimace and shoot him a pointed look. "I wasn't going to mention it, bud, but Wednesday you missed school. Care to tell me where you were?" He didn't answer. "She's a bad influence. I think I'm objective enough that I can tell."

"Objective," Jeremy said, his voice drenched with sarcasm. "Right."

"I don't know what that means," I told him. "I can't read the subtext."

"Nothing. Never mind. I like her," said Jeremy. "Really like her and if she wants to hang out. I don't mind."

I shrugged. "It's really none of my business. Just, stay safe."

"She's not a vampire you have to warn me away from," Jeremy muttered.

"You know what I mean, and you're too young for me to say it outright."

"We're going to be the same age in a few months," Jeremy.

"And a few months after you'll be a kid again," I said with a large grin. Jeremy shook his head.

"Did you hear there was a party tonight?" Jeremy asked. "It is," he said, "to scare away the wolves as the flier stated."

"That's the worst idea ever," I said, flashes of a ground touching my mind, a mess of people whose faces would be cloaked by darkness and suddenly being snapped up.

"Fun idea though," he said. "Being drunk. No obsessing over being abducted. You could chill for the first time this week."

"I'd rather be preparing," I said. "I think I might spend the weekend at Grams'."

"I'm starting to get the feeling that you're obsessed," Jeremy said.

"I'm not obsessed."

"You kinda are," he said. "You've been all about magic lately. If you aren't talking about spells then it's about vampires. All week including today. Obsession."

If only he knew, were my only thought because I had been considering magic longer than he knew. "Fine. Maybe it's an obsession. But I'm still not going to that party."

"What party?" asked a voice. Elena's.

"The one I was planning to have before Micah told me he'll be spending the weekend with his grandmother," Jeremy quickly said but Elena didn't look to be buying it.

"I hope you remember that you're still grounded," she said. "No parties for you for the next month. Need I remind you you're grounded?"

"No. You don't," said Jeremy sounding petulant. "Thanks for doing so, though."

Elena only shook her head. "I didn't come here for this. You're going to have to hitch a ride today. I'll be busy after school."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Elena left. "Don't even ask," Jeremy said as I was about to ask. Obviously it had something to do with Vicki.

The straw burst and soon after it was followed by another. I rode the momentum until the entire set of straws were blown apart and my anger was spent. I pulled the watch from my pocket and closed my eyes, feeding power into it before and getting a reaction: the straws had jumped back in time to their previous state.

I chose another memory and directed my anger into the spell. Riding the momentum until the straws were spent and then I moved onto the jar Bonnie would normally be using, still riding on the momentum of my anger.

The spell was getting progressively easier, but it my anger came harder. Anger was an emotion I rarely experienced, especially to the requisite of the spell. At least moving from exploding jars was a step up.

I pushed power into the watch again and everything fixed itself. My attention was on the watch for a long time, taking it in.

Was there a symbolic aspect to the spell? It would explain why she chose the watch, it was representative of the point in time, so to speak.

How did it work from a casting point, though? Matter of fact how much power did it take to link something to a point in time?

I was lucky having come today, unexpected, because Grams had a life outside teaching Bonnie and me magic. I had caught her as she was leaving and, after a moment's deliberation, she'd let me inside to work on the Pain Infliction spell, giving me the instructions on how to activate the watch and end temporarily end the circle, that would be the second spell I would learn from her.

"Fumos Extas," I said with a sweep of the hand, and the spell worked; a small wind formed, breaking a line in the salt circle. I felt something cold drop down my nose. My hand went there automatically and it came back with blood.

Worrying. Perhaps Jeremy was right and this was turning into an obsession. Or, I had taken on too much. Grams had said this spell had needed her to channel from all four elements, I couldn't go about disrupting it with only my core.

I took a seat and waited five minutes before the circle reformed. This time I reached for the salt in the circle before I said, "Fumos Extas."

The spell broke and this time when I reached for my nose there was no blood. I gave myself another five minutes, this time experimenting with how easily I could reach into my element and direct the power towards a spell. It was as Grams had said, I reach for the power, moulding the chaos until I could move it forward with a purpose, was on an instinctive level.

Eventually I grew bored, made myself a bite before moving around the house. I didn't expect Grams to leave her grimoire within arm's reach, but there had to be some book that might reach me with a handy spell. I looked through her books, most of which were about the occult. But she was an occult professor so that made sense. I found something that might be interesting, a small book with the words _Binding Agents: The Mystery Behind, _by Agatha Burton. I opened it to find the words, ´To Sheila Bennett, without whom most of this book could not have been completed.'

I opened it and read. The introduction was long and arduous, but I read through, especially since I could see these would be leading to magic. It explained pretty much what I knew already, mentioning in passing the role that the elements had played towards where we were today. The book was on the small side, three hours nonstop I read and though it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, what kept me reading though was that Grams was referenced as a source throughout the book.

"I don't know this woman," I muttered to myself having completed the book. There's just something about grandparents. There was this feel about them that before I had come into this world, they had done nothing but wait. They couldn't have had a life. But knowing that Grams had history, that she was a person of such success that she could be referenced in published work, I couldn't help but look at her at a new light. Yes that light was still tinged by the fear of knowing that she could take me down with a word, but there was also a lot of respect behind it.

I heard someone at the door, a knock before I slowly made my way towards it. I checked the peephole to see Stefan on the other side. Almost a week I hadn't seen him and here he was, with my grandmother. He gave another knock, an unneeded knock because I'm sure he could hear me breathing or my heart beating.

"Hello, Stefan," I said hauling the door open.

"Micah," he said. "Is Sheila home?"

"No. She's out. But since you're hear. I've been meaning to talk to you all week."

"Elena mentioned that," he said. "I've been busy." I couldn't tell whether he was lying or not, but I wanted to think that he was. Paranoia is never good, I told myself.

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "That girl vampire's still out there. I've been looking for her as discreetly as I can. The council's looking."

"Are they?" He nodded. "What did you want my grandmother for? Maybe I can leave a message."

"I can talk to her later. Thanks though." He started walking off.

"Stefan weight." He stooped. "The tomb. Do you know what it is? What those vampires want with it?"

The signs were miniscule, but I could see it, his teeth grit together and his shoulders rigid. "Don't get involved, Micah. Let it go."

"I'm pretty much involved," I said. "Whatever she wants, she needs a Bennett witch. The sooner I nip this in the bud, the sooner it all ends, and that requires me knowing about the tomb."

"It's being taken care off," said Stefan and before I could say anything else, Stefan was already at his car.

"I hate vampiric speed. I guess this means I'm going to have to figure this out myself," I muttered, but then an idea hit, a stupid idea that I shouldn't even considered. But my body moved almost on automatic: I closed and locked the door, checking through the darkness before I quickly walked to the car.

I started driving, and pretty soon, my drive took me to the Salvatore Boarding house.

The house was the second largest I had ever seen, though unlike the Lockwood residence it didn't have a welcoming feel to it, but that might have had more to do with the surrounding trees clumping together and the darkness that seemed to stretch on. My heart was already beating hard beneath my chest and second thoughts filtering into my mind.

Fifteen minutes I spent just sitting there, looking at the house and taking it all in, watching for any movement before I started the car again. My second thoughts finally winning through.

Damon was unstable. Who could say that it wasn't him that was killing? I started in reverse when I noticed someone step out of the house and for the first time I saw him. He was a slight bit taller than Stefan, his hair just as dark but his eyes more intense as he looked directly at me.

One feeling resonated with me as I pulled back. You've landed yourself in a lot of trouble, Micah.

I kept glancing left and right as I drove, because now more than ever. I knew I was in trouble. I'd just done the equivalent of opening Pandora's Box. Grams stilled hadn't arrived when I got to her house, not that I minded. The moment I was in the house, I got back to the study and got to work with the Pain spell.

Grams hadn't arrived by the time I had fallen asleep and when I woke up it was to bacon and eggs. These were the things I enjoyed about sleeping over with my grandmother. She was doting at the best of times, when she wasn't chiding anyway.

"Morning," I said.

"You're up earlier than usual," Grams said.

"You're cooking, that's reason enough for me to get up."

"You flatter me," she said.

I took a seat at the table, pouring myself some juice before I started eating. "Where were you last night? If you don't mind my asking?"

"There was a function at Whitmore," she said. "A meet and greet with our benefactors."

Enzo. I felt the deepest pang I had ever felt in my life as memories flooded in of the man. I couldn't quite remember the circumstances except the word _Augustine, _but I remember that he had been tortured.

"What's it like there?"

"A school like any other," said Grams. "Why the sudden interest?"

"I read through the book by Agatha," I said. "It's just got me thinking. How many witches pass through there?"

"Quite a few," Grams said. "I train them if their unlearned. Agatha is one of my successes, but my star pupil was Kaitlin. The woman had quite the talent for Linking Spells."

"Had? Past tense?"

Grams nodded. "She died two years ago. Magical exhaustion."

There was something I didn't like hearing about. The possibility that one day I could stretch myself too thin and I would land on the Other Side. I made a mental note that using my core would be a large straw measure, I wouldn't push myself too far, because no matter how much I knew. It would take a lot for me to come back from the Other Side.

"I almost forgot to tell you. Stefan was here last night," I said. "He didn't give me a message though."

Grams frowned but said nothing in explanation. I didn't ask though I was brimming with curiosity. Did whatever they were doing have anything to do with the tomb?

I slowly ate my breakfast, thinking over the dilemma of the tomb in the context of Mystic Falls. The trouble was, I didn't know much about Mystic Falls' history. It was something, naturally hating history, I had never given much thought to, but it seemed I would have to now. My body heaved at the idea.

I could feel that I was going to put that off as long as possible.

When Grams and I were done eating she got out another spell for me. I watched her set up Boundary spell on a much larger scale.

"Don't go attempting this," she said to me. "But it's important that you know the basics." Grams had a mound of salt in a small bowl in front of her, to her left a bowl with a small fire that should have gone out but was somehow sustaining itself, behind her was nothing, while to her right was a bowl of water.

"When you get to my age drawing power from all four elements will become second nature, mind the pun." I grinned at that. "You've read the book so you'll know that there are a variety of things one can summon. But I believe that channelling the elements is one of the purer forms of magic. Devoid of the expectations the spirits or the taint from darker objects.

"But we're not here to discuss my philosophy on power. Boundary spells are, first and foremost, about anchors. The more anchors there are, the wider reaching the effects of your boundary, but the harder it is for your mind to focus on keeping the forming lines. Your anchor can be anything that draws power, if you can see the area then the anchor can be a fence or mounds of salt whose power can be felt if the area is too large."

"Does it have to be salt specifically?" I asked.

Grams shook her head. "It's earth for us because that's our elemental affinity," she said. "Now quiet, I have to focus."

I stayed quiet and watched. She took a long breath and began: the water rippled and the fire flared, gaining more life. I couldn't feel the power that must have been coming off of her, but it must have been strong because a small wind whipped around us in a frenzy, though it didn't touch Grams.

It took a five minutes before she stopped. A Latin phrase repeated over and over until she let out a large breath.

"It's done," she said and she pulled out something from her pocket. "Sage," she said as if reading my thoughts. Grams said a spell and everything moved. It was though the earth had suddenly lurched and the bowls changed position, the fire now in front of her. She said another spell, shorter than most and easier to remember before she threw the sage into the fire. A large plum of fire erupted before coming apart into smoke. The smoke didn't have the opportunity to dissipate before Grams stilled it with a firm gaze. She began another spell and ended it with a flick of her still out held hand.

The smoke finally dissipated.

"What was the last?" I asked.

"I linked the two spells," Grams answered. "The Boundary spell is not meant to keep anything out, but more of a deterrent. It'll keep away the attention of those who look within, while the sage keeps us from being heard. Help me up." I did. "We'll be working outside today," she said. "I've been too busy to work at my garden, so we'll be growing the plants."

Not what I had wanted to do, but overall it was fun. The spell was simple, drawing power from Nature's supply and shaping life with it. It was the closest thing I could do parallel to the Immortality spell and yet was not considered as Dark Magic. In a matter of hours we had most of the garden done. Many of the plants I couldn't name, but that wasn't an aspect of the spell. I just had to be a conduit to for Nature's power, giving it the purpose.

My phone buzzed and it was Jeremy. _Lockwood thing in two hours. I don't wanna be bored._ You up for it?

_Why not?_ I returned.

_Awesome. _

_Meet you there._

* * *

AN: It's been a week and yet so much has happened. I feel like I'm moving things a bit too fast, but then if I were to move it slower I'd be forced to focus on them in school type situations. Something I don't think I could portray well as I know nothing about the American schooling system.

First time Micah's seen Damon and I think from here on out things will be vastly different. We'll be looking at a more in depth looking at the supernatural world, especially the witch sect and I think Grams should play a large part in that.

I should probably state this now since I don't remember mentioning it before, but there will be slash. Obviously it won't be with the characters cannon has established as straight nor will it be prominent-I can't write romance to save my life-but it will be there in the future.

As of updates. I know that I'm probably going to hate myself for the pressure, but I think it's needed. I'll be posting three chapters every month, between five and six pages each, and if I do post an interlude, it won't be counted as a chapter on its own.

Hope you enjoyed.

-Stalker


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"That's sort of awesome," I said, jerking Bonnie from her thoughts. She looked at me, confusion touching her features.

"What is?" she asked.

"I think the flames feel your emotions," I told her. We were in a dining room, candles scattered across the room in a display that would be beautiful once the sun had set. Every one of them was alight, a low flame that looked just on the edge of dwindling though they didn't go out. "What's up?"

"Nothing," she said, but I knew her well enough to read the lie. As if reading my thoughts, she sighed. "Stefan has a brother…but, you knew that."

"I hate that you can read me that well," I muttered. "I saw him last night." The flames flared, a spark of interest in them. "Stefan came by, wanting to speak to Grams. I wanted to know what this blasted tomb was and asked him. He didn't answer, that's when I felt that the answers would be at the Salvatore Boarding House. But when I got there, the only thing I could feel was this radiance of danger. That was when I knew how bad an idea going out at night alone was and went back home."

"I felt the danger too," said Bonnie. "Stefan was cold and of death, but this was something else. This was the darkest void. Cold." She shivered and so did the flames. "I don't like him. I don't like him being in Mystic Falls. But I especially don't like him with Caroline," the last was said with an amount of anger, the flames growing stronger and brighter.

"What did he do to Caroline?" I asked. My mind already running a mile a minute, imaginings of all the horrible things a vampire could subject to a young woman.

"Nothing. As far as I can tell. But I don't think it would be above someone that cold to play her."

I felt a shiver. The Damon Salvatore I knew would not be above that. "What do you propose we do?"

"I have to tell her I'm a witch," said Bonnie. "Tell her about vampires and that Damon is one too. But I'm afraid she won't listen, that she'll dismiss everything I tell her as a joke."

"You can just show her."

"That's what I've been considering," said Bonnie. "But this thought keeps entering into my mind. This is Caroline, and as much as I love her she can't keep a secret. What if she lets something like this out? What if the council finds out?"

"Then they'll face three witches," I told her. I took a seat across her, taking her hand in mine. "I don't think we have much to worry about with regard to the council. It takes a lot to put down a witch, and included in that is experience."

Bonnie shook her head. "I sometimes wish I could be brave like you."

I snorted. "That's just a façade," I told her. "One that's slowly chipping away as I lose control." The words were said with more feeling in them than I knew the reason. There was too much happening that I wasn't a part of. Plans were being made to tackle a threat that was after me and my sister and yet I wasn't being consulted. I didn't like that. I wanted to be in the know, able to protect myself and those around me as efficiently as possible.

The door opened, breaking my revelry, Tyler behind it.

"Micah," he said. "Good. I've been looking for you."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Little Gilbert is drunk and about to make a scene," he said. "I couldn't find Elena so you're the only one I think he'll listen to."

I let out a sigh. "You're okay?" Bonnie nodded. I stood. "Right," I said to Tyler. "Lead the way." We moved through the house, bypassing the softly conversing guests and moving to the second floor. "Please don't tell me we're going to your room," I said in whisper, "because that would be a little awkward."

"It won't be awkward if you don't kiss me again," said Tyler. Were my skin a few shades lighter I'm sure I would have been red at his words. Memories filled in: night, some party in the woods, me drunk, Tyler drunk, my sister and Elena having gone for some privacy with their respective boyfriends, and me reading the cues wrong and leaning forward.

"That happened," I said burying my face in my hands. "You think you've effectively repressed a memory until a guy brings to your forethoughts," I muttered.

A door opened, revealing a large drawing room beyond. I entered, my eyes scanning the room looking for drunk Jeremy only to find, "Hello, Micah," she said and I stilled, fear overcoming me, my heart starting to beat fervently in its attempts to climb out my throat; my breaths coming in short and rapid pants, the darkness at the edges of my vision beginning to drawn in closer.

No. No! "NO!" Anger. I found it and I directed it forward, pinpointing it into the mess I knew would be her brain. The girl's hands flew to her head, an expression of pain written across her features but not a sound came from her lips.

Why? I tried think that would mean losing focus. I grasped through my memories for another source of anger to fuel the spell but it was hard as my mind chose to focus on other things, like why there wasn't a surprised reaction nor comment from Tyler.

I lost the spell as I turned, losing all thought process as I saw the knife at Tyler's throat. A knife he was holding. Compulsion.

"Motus," I said, flicking a hand back and aiming particularly for his arm. It didn't work, Tyler flew back, heading for the door only to be caught by a smaller much stronger figure. She deposited him slowly on the ground and was gone before I could direct my anger towards her.

"Before you give me a headache I should warn you that I have Jeremy," she said. My anger faded and the fear was back. "Knew that would work," I heard her say just at the edge of my vision. She was moving, making sure I wouldn't look directly at her. "Now. The first thing you're going to do is stay quiet. One word from you and I kill someone you love. Quite the selection too. There's your father. He would be the easiest to get to, working in such a crowded environment and all. There're a lot of people I could compel to kill him."

I felt my stomach lurch.

"Then there's your grandmother. She would be much harder to kill but not impossible. I've been watching her most of all. She's as light as witches can get. Staying away from the darker practices which means her Protection spells won't long lasting. One, maybe two uses before the run out? Two bullets, I wager, and she'd be done."

My stomach lurched further and I felt food I'd eaten weeks ago roll and twist, bubbling and with every second rising higher, moving towards my throat.

"Bonnie's the hardest in my opinion. Friends with Elena Gilbert will make it tricky. Stefan is always watching the pair. But I can work around that too given time. After all I'm under his nose and he has no idea, do he?"

It hit. Quiet. That's why she'd caught Tyler, she wanted to make as little noise as possible. I didn't even think. "Stefan, she's here!" the words came out rushed but I hoped that the message would be received.

The girl sighed. "Remember this," the girl said. "All of this could have been avoided. Tyler kill yourself," she said.

I turned, my hand moving and flicking outwards. The words hadn't left my lips but still Tyler moved, flung back and hitting the wall with such force that the knife was knocked out of his fingers. He landed on the ground and immediately scurried for the knife, another flick and this time I had him in my grasp. I could feel him fighting for motion but I kept my mind firmly on him, my focus almost collapsed when the door opened and Damon stood on the other side.

"Well this is a sight," he said. "Hello, little witch."

"Where is she?" Stefan asked having just appeared behind his brother.

"Where's who?"

"I can't focus on this while talking to you two," I said. Why could he fight me? Was it the compulsion? Or the latent magic waiting to be activated? I lost him and he landed on the ground. He tried to scramble for the knife but Stefan was faster. The vampire took Tyler by the shoulders and looked at him dead in the eyes.

"Stop," he said but nothing happened. "Stop," he tried again, this time with more force behind the words. Still it wasn't effective.

"Let me," said Damon as he strut forward. "Stop moving and stand still," he said and Tyler did as he was told. A look was shared between the brothers, ending with a particular scowl directed at Damon.

Not that I cared. I was moving, my fingers moving across my phone and calling my father. I could hear Stefan speaking in my periphery but I didn't care. I told my dad to get home, that there was a chance that his workmates might be compelled and that nowhere was safe, before he could say anything else I hung up and was calling Grams.

I moved down the stairs three at a time, wildly dodging guests as I headed for the drawing room Bonnie and I had been speaking in. Grams didn't answer and Bonnie wasn't in the room I'd left her in. I tried again, searching through the crowd for my sister. Grams didn't pick up again. I tried a third time but there was a pit forming in my stomach.

What the fuck had I done?

A wave of relief washed over me as I spotted her speaking to Elena and Catherine, only for another bout of worry to take its place at the memory that she'd taken Jeremy and Grams still hadn't picked up her phone.

"Bonnie," I said. "We need to go."

"What's going on?" she asked and I could see curiosity and immediately worry on both Elena and Caroline. "It's her isn't it?" Bonnie said.

I gave her a nod. "We have to find Grams."

"Do I need to call my mom?" Caroline asked her tone tinged with confusion.

"No," it wasn't me that spoke but Damon. "Be a good dear and mingle," he said again. "Don't think about this conversation." Caroline walked away. It was at the edge of my mind, but I noticed the displeasure in Bonnie's features it was overcast by worry though. I felt his hand on my shoulder. "Put on a face," he said. "You're in public, you panicking will help no one."

For the first time I noticed that people were looking our way, murmuring lightly, no doubting about us. I took a breath. Grams is a witch. She can take care of herself, I thought, letting the words become a mantra in my head.

"Let's go," said Damon. "I'll take you where you need to be."

The push was strong, compelling me to move, not that I fought it. We made our way through the crowd. Bonnie at my side as I frantically tried to call Grams again and Elena not too far from Damon. Stefan wasn't with us? Was he searching for her? The answer to that seemed less important than finding out if my grandmother was okay.

"Why are you helping us?" Bonnie asked the moment we were outside.

"It'll come to me, I'm sure," said Damon and I could feel by his tone that he was smirking. I felt a shiver pass through me.

Sixth time and still Grams didn't pick up the phone. I tried to console myself with thoughts that she might be busy, as proven with the gathering she'd had to go to last night. But this felt thin. The girl had done something to her no doubt, taking out the strongest player on the board so the game would be much easier.

Jeremy too was a prospect, my mind added. If she wanted to throw you off, make you liable to comply the next time the two of you met, then that would be the most powerful blow. I mentally shook my head. No. Grams would be the most effective. The girl would be showing me that if she could get at an aged witch, then an amateur was not something that could stand against her.

"Pick up. Pick up. Pick up," I muttered under my breath as I heard the ringing. Let her have been lying, then I could focus on Grams and not feel guilty about Jeremy.

"You called far quicker than I would have guessed," were the words spoken when the phone was picked up. "But then again I'm sure you're trying to cover all your bases." We'd stopped I noticed.

"What's going on?" I heard Elena asked only to receive a motion to stay quiet from Damon.

"Is that Elena?" the girl asked. There was a slight chuckle. "From her tone I gather you haven't told her you got her brother in danger did you?" I felt a pang of hurt at her words. This was my fault. Anything that happened, anyone that got hurt, their pain and lives would be on me. "I guessed not," she said. "Here's the deal. I need to breathe for a bit. Stefan is making that particularly hard with the way he keeps pointing the council my way. I want him out of town. I don't care how you do it, but I want it to happen. The next target will be your father. You have two days. I'll be watching."

She dropped the line.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Two days to get rid of Stefan Salvatore, but the hitch, Damon had heard the entire conversation.

"What you do now defines who you are," said Damon, giving me a particular look. "I'll stay out of it, but I should warn you. You kill my brother and I will make your life a living hell."

The statement hit me like a cold shower.

"What's going on?" asked Elena and I didn't have an idea on how to answer. Jeremy was captured and there was still the chance that the girl had killed my grandmother—something in me broke at that. Now there was this unconquerable task ahead of me. How to get Stefan out of Mystic Falls, or was I even going to do that?

"Your brother's been kidnapped," said Damon without candour. A shocked expression appeared on Elena. "He's going to get killed in two days unless Stefan hauls out of town." The man grinned. "But all of you are lucky."

"And how's that?" asked Bonnie, here hostility unhidden.

"Not here. Not yet. First, your grandmother. She was in danger wasn't she?"

Right at that moment I discovered that I didn't quite like Damon Salvatore. Yeah, the bad boy thing was sexy to watch but having that persona in front of me, speaking haphazardly about people I loved being in danger. I hated it. It angered me to the point that cursing Damon seemed like the smartest thing to do.

"Come along," he said and I felt his arm on my shoulders again, pushing me towards his car. "Elena, girl witch, follow behind with Stefan. My car isn't large enough for the four of us."

"I'm not leaving you with my brother," said Bonnie.

"It's fine," I quickly said, because though I didn't quite understand what was going on, I felt that Damon had a plan. This was his sort of thing, wasn't it? Coming up with devious plans which, though reprehensible, often worked. "I can handle myself."

"You're sure?"

"No," I said. Damon pushed me into the passenger seat, moving swiftly to the other side and starting the car. He started the car and started driving. I stayed silent, my thoughts running a mile a minute. Ways to get Stefan out of town. It would be near impossible, especially with his thing with Elena. Wasn't she the reason Stefan had come back to town in the first place? Because of her? The memories were groggy but I tried to push through the slab of darkness that hid the first few seasons. A few seconds passed and I found nothing. I gave my head a mental shake and chose to redirect my thoughts.

I didn't necessarily need to get Stefan out of town so much as keep him hidden long enough that it gave out the impression he had left. The first thing that popped into my head was a Boundary spell, but it was something I didn't know I could perform. I knew the theory behind it but the practicality of it were something I wasn't sure I could do. Perhaps Grams…I sniffed, my eyes starting to burn in anticipation. We were steadily getting closer to Grams' house. How Damon knew where it was, not that I cared much or at all for that matter; his world was only a few miles away from falling apart.

"Oh, god," I heard Damon mutter. "Please don't tell me you're going to cry."

I didn't care of his comment. If Grams was dead, then it would be my fault for opening my big mouth and calling for Stefan. Sure I didn't know whether she wouldn't have killed Grams, but then the possibility would be in the far future. Not now. I'd told myself that I would stave off her death and yet right now I was too weak.

Even if I had known in the future that events would work themselves this way, what could I have done?

I felt fear claw in my inside me. The power I had held, the power of the curse Grams had taught me, seemed futile in this moment. Right now, I felt more than useless. The house came into view, looking, for all intents and purposes, normal. But I couldn't help the pit in my stomach.

The moment Damon stopped in the driveway I was out of the car. My motions were sluggish but I pushed myself forward, opening the door and moving into the house. I took a breath and called out, my voice bouncing queerly across the walls. But then all that could have been in my imagination. I could hear each of my footsteps, my own breaths and even the blooding rushing throughout my body as I searched through the house; moving from room to room in search for my grandmother.

There were odd changes to the house, I noticed, though this was all periphery. The bookcase in the living room had a greater range of books than I remembered, the kitchen had an extra cabinet and as I ventured up to the second floor, there was an extra room I had never noticed before. This didn't even pique my curiosity though, because my mind was stuck on one fact: there was only one more room to check.

I took a giant breath and opened the door. The air that had filled my lungs escaped in one huff and the world tilted, my legs giving out from under me. The last thing I saw before the darkness engulfed my vision was a dark velvet pool surrounding my grandmother and two holes between her head, her eyes blankly staring at me.

I can't say I remember the next few hours, nor that I want to remember them. They passed in something of a blur. Some point during it all Bonnie had arrived, not soon after there was a flurry of activity in her house. Police milled about, looking through everything. Sheriff Forbes had done questioning me and I hadn't answered much beyond a few responses.

The only thing I could think that had impact was that all this was my fault. From the get-go it had been my fault. If I hadn't revealed myself in that party then the witch would not have had an interest in me. Then Grams and my friends would be alright.

I felt my heart twist and my stomach churn when I thought about Jeremy. She would be in her grasp right now and there was nothing I could do to…when the feeling hit it was strong. A heat filled me up and a sense of purpose came over me.

Tracking spell, my mind said. Since the girl had Jeremy, now she could be found.

My state of being changed, for the first time I was able to see the world around me in detail. I was still in Grams' house, sitting in the kitchen with a blanket around me, Bonnie sat in front of me with a deep expression of sorrow in her expression and Dad stood over both of us, shifting at times as he looked at the both of us.

"Where's the sheriff and her deputies?" I asked much to the surprise of my father.

"They left about an hour ago," he said, his voice a low rumble. "They said they had all they could get."

I gave a nod, trying to calm the breaths which had begun to take a shaky quality to them. "It was her," I said. "The vampire girl."

Dad nodded. "I know."

"She has Jeremy."

My dad frowned, a glint of comprehension passing through her eyes before a look of comprehension dawned on him. He shook his head. "Whatever you're thinking, no. You won't be putting yourself in danger. Older and wiser people can handle this."

"She's going to kill him dad," I said and my voice broke. "She said she would. I have to do something."

"And what can you do?" my father asked. "You're sixteen, Micah. Things like this don't have to be on your shoulders."

"No one would ask for this on their shoulders," I muttered. "But I have to do something. I've been doing nothing but just sitting, waiting for the last two weeks and nothing has come of it. I'm sure I can do something of worth."

Dad made to speak but was interrupted by Bonnie. "What are you thinking?" she asked. I looked at her and the sight that found me scared me on a level. The pain was still etched in her eyes, tears just on the brink of streaming out, but when I looked further I could see all her anger.

I took a seat and took out my phone: _Tracking spell. Using Elena's blood to find Jeremy. If we find him. We'll find her. _

"It could work," said Bonnie. "We should look for Grams' grimoire."

"You can't be serious," dad said, and there was a tinge of anger. "Are you seriously thinking about going after a vampire?"

"We need to protect ourselves," Bonnie said. "If she could," her voice hitched. She took a breath. "If she could get Grams killed then getting to us will being easier."

"Walking into the slaughterhouse isn't going to help," dad said. He took a breath and his expression hurt me. "Give me a day," he said. "Give me a day to sort everything out before you try and take things into your own hands."

I said nothing. Bonnie too. Both of us were riding off the momentum of our emotions, focusing on the anger than the grief. If I stopped, allowed myself those feelings, then I wasn't sure I'd be able to get back again.

"Okay," I said, my voice measured. The lie came out better than I'd hoped but with it I felt that this would be the turning point in the relationship with my father because this was the first time—baring the whole reincarnated thing—that I had felt the need to lie to him. "We won't do anything for a day."

Dad smiled a little, giving us both hugs before he told us to stay inside the house and to invite no one inside, then he left, most likely to go speak with the sheriff.

"We should look for that grimoire," I told Bonnie. She gave a nod and we searched.

The house was filled with more than I could remember in general. Extra cupboards filled with various herbs, candles and salt. There were also an inordinate of glass vials with strange, pinched lips. I knew this house like the back of my hand and yet these things were ones I had never seen before…or perhaps I had seen them and but never noticed? Had this been spellwork on Grams' part?

For the moment such thoughts were let go, and a focus was put on finding Grams' grimoire. It was strange or perhaps it was stupid, but as we searched both of us found some small reason that the grimoire would be anywhere in the house except her room. We didn't even venture close to it and when we were forced to, the search taking us to the second floor, both of us didn't even set eyes on the closed door; something particularly easy considering there was a tangible distraction in front of us.

"It's not just me, right?" said Bonnie standing beside me. "This door wasn't here before." I gave a nod, staring at the door with the strange symbol in it. "What do you think it is?"

I shrugged. "No idea."

"Should we go in?"

"Doors are made to be gone through," I said but neither of us moved. This door had been hidden, maybe with a Cloaking spell which had be bound to Grams—I quickly pushed the implication of it appearing out of my mind—whatever was inside had to be magical to some degree. But if it had been protected with a Cloaking spell then whatever was inside had been hidden for a reason, what if by opening the door we were realising something bad?

If it were something bad though, there would be secondary precautions. Grams' area of speciality had been boundaries, if there was something on the other side of the door that needed to be hidden, that needed to stay within, then she would have made the door un-openable. I took hold of the handle and turned it, pushing the door open only to find it didn't budge.

The door was sealed shut.

"Is it bad that I'm a lot more curious now than before?" I asked.

"Ditto."

"Grams taught me a spell to temporarily breach a way through boundaries," I told Bonnie. "I could probably open it for like a minute, but the question is, do we forgo finding the grimoire to quell our curiosity?"

"This door will be here when we've sorted this mess out," Bonnie said.

We returned to our search, moving through the remainder of the second floor and even the attic. We stopped at the precipice of what would be Grams' room, the door closed and beyond I fear I might see the sight again. My heart was beating fervently beneath my chest and this time, it was not I that had the strength to open the door, nor the one with the strength to go inside. I watched as Bonnie swallowed, searching through drawers and under the bed, looking at the edge of tears through it all.

A small figurine toppled over from the headboard, hitting the ground with a startling thud. Both of us looking in the direction. Bonnie walked over and started searching through it and after a few minutes I heard a relieved breath.

"I found it," she said and in her hand was a large book, not a word written on the cover. I felt an odd thrill of excitement before the guilt took over; the only reason I had the grimoire in the first place was not something worth celebrating. The excitement dissipated and in its place there was left a grim determination: I had to find Jeremy.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"They've already found him," Bonnie said, much to my shock.

"When? How?" I should have felt relieved but my emotions were something I couldn't make any sense out of. There was the obvious guilt and hurt, aching at the back of my mind and becoming vivid the moment my thoughts ventured close to their triggers, then there was the excitement of what I had been about to do: We had already prepared to a degree, three lit candles spread out to form a triangle and thin lines of salt connecting them. I was on the inside the grimoire in my lap and a map of the town in front of me. And then the most recent feeling; relief tinged with disappointment.

"Apparently Jenna installed an app on Jeremy's phone that lets her keep track of him," said Bonnie. "He was safe if a little banged up."

Dual emotions hit me; a tinge of relief and confusion. The confusion was more vivid. The girl's leverage had been taken away in what, if I were reading a book, I would have considered an anticlimactic manner. The world didn't generally work like that, there had to be something I was missing, another part to a plan I didn't know about. I gave myself a mental nod, this certainly fit what little I knew about the girl. She wasn't impulsive, every one of her steps were measured and she planned meticulously. At the Lockwood Property she had wanted to meet me and she had achieved in that respect, even breaching the Protection of Invitation to do so. Jeremy being found rang of a calculated step in my opinion, which worried me more than if I had found him through magic.

"Where are they now?" I asked.

"Damon and Stefan are letting them stay over at the Boarding House. It will be safer if they keep an eye on them for the time being. Stefan says he wants to check over their memories, look for any signs of compulsion."

I frowned, another aspect of this world I didn't remember. "He can do that?" Bonnie shot me a look, she was still on the phone and the whole having two conversations thing must have been causing a migraine. I stayed quiet, letting my thoughts consider the way forward; for the time being the only thing I could do was comply with the girl's wishes and get Stefan out of town. But how?

I looked at the book in my lap, a book that would have been so linked to my grandmother that I could contact her spirit, have her lend me her power. But what was power when I couldn't use it. My fingers passed over the pages, turning the slowly in search of anything that might counted as useful. Grams, it seemed, had written the book with a clear objective in mind, that one day it would fall in the hands of her descendants: each spell spanned a minimum of four, the title written clearly in large bold letters and the effects in smaller script soon after. Then there were the directions and ingredients, the optimal fuel, the feeling that would pass through the individual and how they should control the power that would be passing through them.

It seemed Grams had a duality to her. The spells I noted most were split in half between Boundary and Linking spells; the boundaries though weren't as in depth as her Linking Spells, I didn't have much knowledge when it came to magic and yet I found them unimaginative. Most of them seemed to be either to keep something out, it was as though she had never contemplated the need to keep something in or the complexities of something the likes of the Other Side being a Boundary; her Linking spells though were a work of art, most of them working on an abstract level that reached so far that she could even link two minds, though the process required a lot of power if there was not already a natural link between the individuals.

Linking spells wouldn't do. They were useful, but for a novice distance and time were a factor I knew would have me at a disadvantage. The same could be said for Boundary spells, the descriptions behind them were complicated, requiring a lot of mental fortitude which could be disrupted even by the smallest distractions. I took a breath, feeling a surge of hopelessness engulf me but I pushed it back. Even with everything the girl was still at a disadvantage, I told myself. She was being hunted from three side, soon to be two, but I wasn't going to let her succeed in her goals after what she'd done.

Lexi, came the answer and in that moment I admitted that I loved the subconscious mind. I could remember her. Stefan's best friend and the woman who had taken him out of his Ripper ways. She'd been dead for most of the series but I got the feeling her death happened in the first season. She was an answer to getting Stefan out town, but would that name compel him to leave? I groaned a little, were it Damon that I had been asked to wade off the task would have been much simpler, just tell him about Enzo and he'd be off to rescue the man.

My thoughts stayed along those lines. If I didn't have the answers myself to cart Stefan out of town then the answer lay in outsourcing. Enzo was a dear friend to Damon, one of the few things that might actually illicit guilt for the vampire, such information would be pricey. If I played my cards right, then I might be able to get him to take care of Stefan, maybe lock him in the cellar in their home.

What would I do after then? Simple compliance would only get me so far, after that I would need to handle the situation. I ran a hand through the buzz that was my hair, keeping myself calm and my thoughts flowing. Right now the only thing keeping me from acquiring a sort of leverage was because I didn't know more about the tomb, once I discovered that I would be able to gauge whether I turn the tide.

I looked at Bonnie, still on the phone, a frown marring her features as she spoke to who I assumed was Elena on the other side. I wouldn't hide my plans from her. She would be better suited to protecting herself if she knew what was happening. But the girl had said she'd be watching. I needed our conversations to be private.

I flicked through the book and found the spell I was looking for. I gathered the ingredients, sage from one of the cupboards and took hold off a candle. I took a breath, holding the sage over the fire; a pungent scent filled the room and Bonnie paused from her conversation to look at me. I said the incantation and waited. The description said I was supposed to feel a rush of power leaving me but I felt nothing.

It took a seven tried in total before I felt the rush of power. I left the room and listened, and from beyond I couldn't hear Bonnie's conversation.

_So long as the sage burn no words will be heard beyond the room. _

I took a bowl from the kitchen, large and metal, and shoved more sage bushes within. I took the original sage plant and put it in the same bowl, and after a muttered words a small flame sparked before it faded and the air become thicker with the scent of sage. Thirty minutes, I guessed, but the guess was baseless and I didn't trust it. I would have to keep an eye on it.

Bonnie finally dropped the phone and she let out a sigh. "What is this?" she asked.

"Privacy," I told her. "It's a barrier of sorts. No one can hear us while we speak. What's happening with Jeremy?"

"From the looks of it, they think he's been compelled but they're having trouble digging up the memory. Whoever this vampire is, she's old enough that even Damon can't get through her compulsion," she said. "But that's not the only problem. Vicki Donovan's been turned into a vampire."

"Why would she do that?" I found myself muttering. Bonnie's only answer was a shrug. I tried putting myself in her place, factoring in that letting Jeremy go was all part of some greater plan. What good would having another vampire? Especially one that wasn't in my control? That had to be taught and controlled by someone else?

I let out a breath which was filled with all my dread. Knowing Stefan he would feel compelled to show the girl the ropes. The move was to make him busy and thus ensure that my sister did not have the degree of protection which came from being in Stefan and Elena's circle. Not to mention that if Vicki slipped up it would bring light on the secret of the Salvatores. Bloodshed would soon follow.

It was a counter in case I chose to forego dispatching Stefan and instead worked with him. Something hit me. Why hadn't she mentioned Damon? Of the two brother he was the more obvious threat and yet, nothing. Did she not know that he was in town?

This was an advantage. It meant Damon would be able to work in the shadows, but what would compel him to do so was something that still escaped me.

Think of this as a book, Micah, I told myself. Everything said and done is worth a purpose, it follows certain plot lines, and more often than not there is no such thing as coincidence. Damon was here, there was a plot to open what I still assumed was a magical tomb, he had to know about it.

I looked outside. The day was drawing to a close, a red tinge in the sky. We still had time before sunset, not that it was much of a protection against one who had a daylight ring, but still, if she had made more vampires then they wouldn't have the same mercy. They would have to wait until night fall if they were going to keep a watch on us.

"Bonnie," I said. "I'm getting that strong feeling that answers are in the Salvatore Boarding house again."

"Answer about the girl or the tomb?" she asked.

"Aren't they one and the same? We find out about the tomb, we know more about the girl, and knowing her means we can find her weakness. Maybe we'd be able to figure out where she's hiding."

"What about dad?" she asked.

"Let's trust he can protect himself," I said, though my voice waver, "and quickly get this over with before more people are hurt. She said she'd give me two days before she killed anyone."

Bonnie was frowning. "When did this happened?"

I told her the story as quickly as I could, about Tyler being compelled and the countermeasures the girl had said she'd taken. When I stopped talking Bonnie was visibly shaken, her breathing coming out rushed.

"How do we fight this?" she muttered. "How do we fight when we're so outmatched?"

"We hope for inordinate amount of luck," I said. "But first we need to hash out a few things, thoughts on the subject and information I feel is true."

Bonnie didn't like the starts of my plan, but then I could understand it. I was essentially saying to go along with the person who had killed…I was saying we should go along with the actions of an evil person just to save ourselves. But for me that seemed the perfect end-goal, something tangible I could focus on: if I kept focusing on the survival on those I loved then I could gauge how far I was willing to go to achieve it.

"Stefan needs to be out of the picture," I reiterated for what felt like the tenth time. "My guess is that she doesn't know about Damon yet, which might be good because of the brothers he's the most dangerous."

"How do we get Damon on our side, then?" Bonnie asked. "In the void I felt, I don't think any emotion can survive."

"I think I might know something that will have him working for us."

Bonnie gave a nod. "We're desperate," she said.

We really were.

The last of the sunlight still slowly set. If we left now, we would be foregoing protection on the return trip. It was a chance we took knowing full-well the danger, but, I rationalise—the only thing that could keep me sane through the drive—if dad was out there, braving the danger to protect us, it made no sense that we couldn't.

Bonnie's eyes flitted across the landscape as I drove, a look of fear and anger in her eyes that I found slightly unsettling. I felt an ounce of fear because in that moment that I caught her gaze I could see the mental image of someone's head exploding. Gruesome, yes, but Bonnie felt anger more deeply, she had more fuel and if she channelled too much into someone she could kill them.

To kill. I pondered the thought. When all this was through and if I was lucky to make it to twenty, then I would have taken a life. It seemed throughout the series everyone in the main cast had done it.

Wait, was I even in the main cast? The thought almost made me crash the car as an utter sense of hopelessness it me. If I wasn't, then I was an extra. I could die and not be remembered. I took a breath and though, the more deeply I went the more worried I became. When I put away the first-hand experience and thought about the series, I couldn't remember Vicki. She had been there, that much I knew, but she hadn't had enough presence that she had had plot-induced invincibility, and she had been a sister to Matt Donovan; me being a brother to Bonnie wasn't something I could depend on, I had to be memorable on my own merits.

I have to be central to the plot, I thought. Be so intrinsic to the running of things that without me they would fall apart. I had to make sure that I didn't die.

We arrived and Bonnie knocked while I looked around in concern. She'd said she would be watching, the thought ran rapidly at the back of my mind. Right now, she could be here. But would she? It was too close to another vampire that could take her down and ruin whatever plan she was weaving.

The door opened and a man stood within, he looked vaguely like both the Salvatores if older; dark hair, compassionate eyes which reminded me of Stefan and a worn look to him that I felt sorry for. But all that aside, my eyes were stuck on a few things: He looked paler than was common in Mystic Falls and there was a bandage strapped to his neck.

Zach smiled a little, even his smile had a tired feel to it. "Bonnie and Micah, I think," he said.

"Mr Salvatore," Bonnie said. "Are you alright?"

"He's alright," said Damon's voice with his sudden appearance. "I've just been teaching Vicki the ropes," he said. "Fair warning, she has an insatiable appetite."

If there were a list of wrong things to say, Damon's list would have topped the list. Bonnie took a step forward and Damon flinched back, his hands flying to his head and a strangle scream leaving him.

"What's—" Vicki started after her sudden appearance. And then there were two. I can't be sure how she did it but Vicki was on the ground, she too screaming. Gripped by Bonnie's power.

Concentrating on one person while using the curse had been unbearable and yet hear she was, striding slowly forward and two vampires under her power with anger enough that she didn't look anywhere near stopping.

"Bonnie," that one word cut her off. Damon and Vicki stopped screaming but their breaths, particularly that of the latter, came out haggard.

Bonnie, I noticed, had a tired look on her but there was still that glint of anger waiting to be directed.

"I think he's compelled to be calm," I said, eyeing Zach Salvatore with the corner of my eye, keeping a firm focus on the vampires that were slowly getting to their feet. The man was look at the scene with nothing but tranquillity, a slight smile touching his face.

"Break the compulsion," Bonnie said, her gaze directed at Damon. The man was standing and even though there was still sign he was still in pain, I could see from his posture his answer.

Damon snorted. "I'm not about to ruin my fun on your account," he said with a narrowed gaze. "Matter of fact—"

"Enzo," I blurted out because knowing Damon he would have killed poor Zach just to spite Bonnie and her anger. This would be his idea of fun and he would feel no remorse about it.

Whatever momentum Damon had been gathering disappeared and his eyes were on me. I could see the emotion and I was internally elated, perhaps this could work. But now, I needed to play it right to ensure I got what I wanted.

"How do you know that name?" Damon asked.

"That sort of information comes at a price," I said. I looked at Zach, searched my memory and found that he too didn't register. He didn't make it past the first season I guessed or there might have been more of an impression. "Part of which will be compelling Zach out of town, to forget about Mystic Falls and find a place where he can be happy. Where you can't follow."

Damon took a moment, looking between Bonnie and me before he moved forward and compelled the command. I couldn't help grinning a little, this was my first victory, it was small in the greater scheme of things, but it meant something to me. I had saved one person from death.

* * *

AN: I feel that things are moving too fast, but this needs to end for my story to truly begin. I should mention one more time, this will be extremely Alternate Universe.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

The smell of sage wafted through the room, reaching the borders with more pungency than any aroma was supposed to have. The four of us were in a drawing room, sitting and facing each other on different couches. The expression on each of us were vastly different from the other, from Vicki there was only confusion as she stared between my sister and myself, Damon wore a scowl, a glint of interest sparking at intervals but further than that there was only a scowl, from Bonnie there was only a glare.

On my side, well I couldn't really tell without a mirror, but were I to guess my expression would have been frantic. My mind was ablaze with various situations, different wordings that might lead to Damon killing me and all the pain that might come from said act.

Alright. Enzo. What I wanted. I needed to play this game right. But playing it too well meant people taking an interest in my _clairvoyance _and having expectations about what it entailed. Every problem in the future would first come to me now because of how detailed I felt things, I let out a breath and it was clearly obvious in the silent room, they would want detailed solutions.

Did I need to be wrong just to put up a façade for the future? Or did I try and solve this as effectively as possible?

I gave a mental shrug, the choice was easier. The latter. What I wanted people to know about my _gift _would be up to me, but saving those around me wasn't a choice I could stray away from with good conscious.

There was a clatter from upstairs. Zach still gathering his belongings and preparing to leave. He'd been doing so for the last hour with an unusual pep in his step, honestly I felt for the guy because Mystic Falls held a lot of crap that would get a lot of normal humans killed. I felt an amount of dread at the thought, an amount of dread that intensified as the thought inevitably brought up something I had been trying to put off as long as I possibly could: I couldn't save her.

I felt my innards shaking, quivering with emotions that would not be productive. I took a large breath and instead focused on something else: People would die and I felt that I should save as many of them as possible.

The question was how and the answer was simple enough in power. I needed to learn as much as I possibly could for the betterment of society.

I let the words roll over in my mind, repeating it over and over so that it would be a vivid thought through everything I did.

"Okay," the silence was broken quite harshly by Vicki as she slouched from what had been before a stiff posture. "I thought I could wait it out. I'm immortal, I could stand to be patient, but what the fuck is going on here?" she said. "What was that with the headache? What's with that damned strong safe? And how the hell was she able to make it burn without a match?"

"They're witches," Damon answered. The answer simple and yet terse, his eyes didn't stray too far away from me. Well, they didn't move away from at all. He started at me with an unblinking gaze that told me a story, a terrifying story.

"Witches," Vicki said, her tone filled with doubt. She let out a sigh and shook her head. "Witches are real." Again she shook her head. "When the veil is pulled back the effects hit you hard," she muttered, running a hand over her brow. Her next words were quick, a low mutter that was incomprehensible. I assumed they were threatening considering the sidelong glance and smirk Damon shot her way before she answered.

I could feel Bonnie shift beside me. "Need I remind you that if you try anything we have the power to burn you alive," I said, the words just slipping out.

Damon snorted. Vicki sobered before she grinned. "Ballsy thing to say, Bennett," she said. "Who knew you were the type? Dishing out threats wantonly and drunkenly holding power over those around you."

I said nothing, but every impulse in my being said I should curse her. I didn't like her after all and finding the anger to make her scream would not take much effort…I paused, looking the thoughts over and frowned; had the miniscule amount of power I had amassed already corrupted me? It was a scary thought that something so small could do so much but it was sobering. When I got home I would have to right a list of what I thought as acceptable behaviour while I was still relatively weak. If I broke any of those then I would know that I was too corrupted and that I would have no moral high ground.

The sound of footsteps filled the silence and in moments there was Zach, wearing a large grin and carrying three large bags. "Well," he said brightly, "this is me." He took a breath. "Your talk did me well, Uncle Damon," he said. "I mean this was something I'd wanted to do for a very long time. Travel, see the sights, live," he said that last with emphasise. "Goodbye," he said. "Tell Uncle Stefan I'll call if ever I need anything."

"Yeah. Yeah," Damon muttered. "Get out of here already before the impulse to keep you here overwhelms me." It might have been a joke but the only thing that filtered into my mind was an obvious threat.

Zach chuckled, dropping his bags to give the standing Damon and awkward hug, before he left. I heard the car start and drive away, and then I waited. Darkness was plastered from the outside after another hour had passed and it was time enough that the aroma of had receded. Bonnie pulled out another sage bush, said the Flame spell and the Spell of Privacy.

"Right," said Damon. "He's gone, his location unknown to me and when he thinks of calling he'll suddenly be hit by an impulse not to. Speak. How do you know Enzo?"

I took a breath. "I get flashes of knowledge sometimes," I said. "Feelings the other. I knew for instance that you would have killed Zach in that moment and to counter I was hit by the vivid image of a man."

Vicki snorted. "I'm sure that's not the first time," I heard her muttered.

I ignored her. "Slightly on the short side, his skin pale and with dark hair. I got the feeling he looked like an Enzo. Stretching the connections I knew you'd be interested."

Damon sat back, reclining smoothly. "A peculiar gift," he said. "One, I'm sure, will be useful in how you deal with your little vampire problem."

Bonnie gave a nod beside me. "We think you know something," she said. "About this tomb the girl is looking for, and we're levering information on Enzo to find out all you know."

"Enzo's dead," said Damon.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure how, but he didn't burn when you left him." It looked as though the man had been visibly struck. "He's alive and I know where he is."

"Tell us about the tomb and you'll find out," Bonnie said.

Being a twin is a marvel of a thing. Bonnie and I were vastly different and yet we knew each other to the point where even when we were winging it we were complementary. When I stopped she knew where to start and it gave what we said a dynamic to it that was creepy yet fun to exercise.

It helped as well that when my sister is angry she had the potential to be badass.

Damon took a breath, looking between the both of us with an expression that was cold and calculating. He would be considering his options, looking for a way to take away the upper-hand which we thought we had. I could already imagine it, using the large fact that the girl had us at a disadvantage, that she was manipulating our familial connections to further her goals.

"The Tomb," he said, much to my surprise, and I'm sure my face reflected it, "was a creation of the first Bennett to call Mystic Falls home, Emily." The name tickled some part of my memory, but not enough that I would get a clear picture. "I asked for her to do the enchantment," Damon said, "to save a few people I thought of as friends."

"Vampires," Bonnie muttered. "It's the only way a spell of that kind could save anyone."

"True," said Damon.

"So there's a tomb out there filled with vampires," I found myself muttering, "and the girl wants to open it. Wonderful."

"Wait," said Vicki. "If you're the one who asked that they be put in there in the first place, doesn't that mean you want this tomb-thing open like the vampire-girl?"

"It does," said Damon. "But the methods of getting them are different. Witches and vampires don't usually get along," he said, "which means they aren't known to do favours for vampires out of the goodness of their hearts. Emily asked for a price for my favour, and that was keeping her family alive. Something Anna forced me to break."

That name. I could feel a little spark become known to me, an insistent memory that, when I grasped for, disappeared into the darkness of forgetfulness. I frowned, trying to grasp for the memories but it was futile, the memory would slip through my mental fingers as though I was grasping air. I gave my head a mental shake, for the time being it was easier to focus on the Tomb.

"That's why you were helping us?" asked Bonnie. Damon only shrugged.

"I've held up my end of the bargain," the vampire said. "It's your turn. Where's Enzo?"

"He's still at Whitmore," I said. I hadn't wanted to say the words, but Damon was volatile at the best of times, and that he hadn't strangled anyone was purely luck on our side. If I stretched this too far, let him have to threaten Bonnie and me for information, then things would go south pretty quickly. "They're still torturing him," there was emotion in my voice, a tinge of fear because if there was one thing I feared even more than death, was pain.

Death, I imagined, was absolute, a cold, unremembered embrace, but pain was fierce, prominent in the mind and it was something most people couldn't grow accustomed to.

Damon took a breath, rubbing at his chin. "What do you two know about Boundary Spells?" Damon asked.

"Next to nothing," I said.

"Good. The trip to get Enzo should be no more than three days if their defences are crappy, but until then you two are going to have to handle things yourselves. Keep Anna sated. I'm guessing she won't kill you, she can't exactly open the tomb without a few things; most of which she won't be able to get." There was a confidence as he said this, a surety in his tone that I didn't entirely understand. Damon stood, looking at Vicki and then between Bonnie and I.

"Donovan," he said. "Find a phone and call your brother. You're coming with me. I'll teach you the ropes while on the prowl."

"Uhm…no," she said. "I'd rather stay here. Whatever you're doing seems dangerous and though I don't like Stefan's philosophy, there isn't the chance that I might get tortured with him."

Damon snorted. "Why not," he said with a little grin, again she looked between myself and Bonnie, most likely thinking the same thing I was: Stefan would have to be put down, incapacitated enough that it looked as though he had disappeared. We still had the entire day tomorrow to figure out how that would happened, maybe I might be able to talk him into leaving for a few days, but if it couldn't come to that then the unimaginable had to be done. I sure as hell had enough Vervain to get him in a weakened state.

I heard a low buzz. Bonnie took out her phone and winced, _Dad, _she mouthed. Before taking the phone.

"Can you tell me where the tomb is?" I asked. "Maybe if I got a chance to see it I might learn something about it."

"It's better if we act as though you know nothing about this," said Damon. "If Anna knows about this then she'll know you might try something and further entrench those around you, and knowing your line, you'll get self-destructive, become stupid and in the process get yourselves killed. Something that I can't have. Right now, you two need to learn as much as you can about Boundary spells; without saying too much, the power behind that spell is one I've been told takes a master to control."

"No pressure," I muttered.

"Dad wants us home," said Bonnie, putting down her phone. "He sounds heated."

I let out a sigh, perhaps this was the reason protagonists in stories never told their parents they were out to save the world. They always got in the way. Bonnie and I slowly walked out of the Salvatore Boarding House, making sure to keep both the vampires in our sights until we got into the car. I chose to drive again, not because I was the better driver, but because Bonnie was the better with curses. My mind flashed of Bonnie putting down two vampires she had only master the previous week. _Fire is destructive, inflicting devastating curses if given momentum. _

Some part of me wished I had her elemental affinity, Boundary spells seemed too tricky an undertaking when we needed quick knowledge on defence.

"That was more than I expected," said Bonnie. Her words were soft, not that she needed them to be though because she had a small burning sage plant in her hand. I gave a hum of a reply. "Do you trust him?" Bonnie asked.

My head shook of its own accord. "I'm not sure," I said. "He surprised me with telling us about the Tomb so readily. But then again I didn't think he would be that affected by Enzo."

"You sound like you know him," said Bonnie. "The way you speak, I'd swear you were talking about Jeremy." I frowned, sparing her a look that I hoped told her to expand. She took a breath. "You're not the most social of people," she said. "I've seen it when strangers try and talk to you, you get this bored look on your face and are perfunctory at best. Now here you are, actually showing sympathy for a person you've never met before. How deep do this feelings of yours go?"

I took a breath, my mind running over everything I knew about superpowers until something settled in my mind. "They're not feelings per say," I told her. "It's more like burst of knowledge. I'll be wondering about some question and then I'll know that the answer is at x, or the answer suddenly makes itself known."

"Can you control it?" she asked.

I shook my head. "It's kind of like I'm remembering stuff I heard years ago. Sometimes I can follow the threads, make whatever burst become clearing, put context behind it. But other times I just remember a name, like Enzo."

"So back there," she said. "You got the name Enzo, then while we were sitting, waiting for Zach to get done packing you were doing your best to follow the threads? Get more information?" I gave her a nod. "I'm jealous," she said after a moment. "That seems like a handy gift."

"It sucks when I know something but can't do anything about it," I said. Bonnie gave me a confused look. "Remember the comet?" Bonnie nodded. "I knew that such an astrological event would have a near infinite amount of power, but I couldn't do anything about it because at that point I could channel power, nor did I know any cool spell that would require that kind of power."

"How do you live such an unfair life?" Bonnie asked with a slight grin. "Were it me I would be curled into a ball at this point."

"I know, sis," I returned. "It takes an insane amount of strength to be me."

We shared a small laugh before the mirth dissipated. "Grams' or home?" I asked as we got closer into town."

"Home."

A few more minutes and we stopped in front of our house. A police car was parked by the road and I could see two shadows through the window, one of which was pacing. Bonnie and I both took a breath, fortifying ourselves before we walked in. Dad was on us the moment we walked in, engulfing the both of us in a hug and giving us a once-over with worried eyes that soon turned blazing.

"I told you to give me a day," he said, his voice a low murmur. I took a glance to the living room, a deputy was there, sitting on a couch and drinking a cup of coffee, he would look at us at intervals with a look of pity. I decided that I didn't like the look.

"We did," said Bonnie. "We weren't doing anything. We were just…"

"Getting informed," I said. "I thought the Salvatores might know more."

Dad frowned. "I don't like you spending time with them," he said. "It was bad enough that one of them was here, but to learn there are two of them."

"At present," said Bonnie. "They're the only ones that can take the girl and win."

Dad shook his head. "This will end soon," he said. "But we'll need a massive amount of Vervain." Dad looked at me. "I saw your stock when," he said. "I won't ask how or when you got it, just that can I have it and can you get more?"

My nod was quick. "Bonnie and I can grow some," I said. "Grams taught me how to do it."

"Good," he said. "Go upstairs and move the stuff to the extra room. I'll stall Claude for a few minutes then we can pick it up," he said. "I don't want him asking questions about why it's in your room."

Dad retreated into the living room and Bonnie and I got to work. It took some doing seeing as unlike Bonnie I couldn't raise the things without them being bigger, but with some creative use of a drawer Bonnie and I used the Spell of Motion to move the arrayed jars and powders out of my room and to the guest room. The plants we left though, we'd need some soil and plant pot but those were easy enough to get.

Ten minutes and then I had to help Claude and Dad carry down the jars. I feigned annoyance at having to help them when I could be doing teenager stuff, but I could see that Claude was tense. He didn't want me to know about vampires, to open me to the world of the things that went bump in the night. I searched my memory but didn't find much about him, the ring though meant he had a wife, any maybe children. If he did have children then I could understand his fear; I think if I were a parent, I would do my darndest to keep my children away from this life.

"I'll be helping out the sheriff and the deputies for a while," dad said after we had finished hauling the Vervain. "Those solutions are something I heard would ward away the animal who have been attacking," he said more for Claude's benefit than my own. "I'll be back pretty late. Down wait, you've got school tomorrow."

Not going, my mind said.

Bonnie and I both nodded and watched as he left.

"Every time I watch him leave I fear he might not come back," said Bonnie.

"Ditto," I said, my voice cracking in its delivery of that one word. "We should head back to Grams'. Start getting down the basics of Boundary spells."

"You do that," said Bonnie. "I'll maybe get started on Links. It doesn't make sense for us to focus only on one avenue."

I gave her a nod. "We'll need to find out more about curses at some point," I said. "I feel like they would be the most effective in circumstances such as these."

Bonnie grimaced, but she nodded. It occurred to me that driving around this much at night was dangerous, but I also remembered Damon's words. She wouldn't kill us. She needed us, and I still had the entirety of tomorrow to figure out what to do about Stefan.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

I took the drawing room while Bonnie had taken the living room. The door was closed, but from beneath it a low red light filtered through, those would be her candles, her source of fuel. Mine was on the floor in front of me, a large mound of salt whose power I could feel pulsing through me. I remembered the words of the spell, they were longest phrase in an unknown language I had ever learnt, but they had an insistence to them that kept them firmly in my thoughts.

A large breath in and it was held. I pictured what I wanted quite clearly in my mind, the mound of salt would be the beginning and end, a continuous line that was without break or hazard turn: a perfect circle.

A breath let out in a rush.

I said the spell: words left without my mind grasping them, I didn't know their meaning but the intent behind them would do; power rushed into and left me in the same instance and I could feel the line my mind had scripted start to become real. The salt was shifting, its power spreading out and given new purpose: to keep in.

The phrase was said once.

I already felt fatigued, the line growing fuzzy and the power moving through me starting to become uncomfortable. I tried keeping my mind on the lines, on the words coming out of my mouth and the power moving through me.

The phrase was said twice.

The mental line was a quarter of the way to becoming a circle and yet it was growing ever more blurry, all of it was too much. I was running out of breath, my head beginning to pound and an itch starting from beneath my skin. Power entered into me, drawn from the salt, before it was pushed back with purpose, spreading to form the circle that would be my barrier. It was all too slow and I could feel my concentration breaking.

The phrase was said thrice.

My concentration broke, my breath hitched, the lines broke apart and I opened my eyes, aware that I no longer seating, but had my hands on the floor, a hard breath leaving me and sweat lining my brow. I looked at the circle, it was as my mind had seen, a quarter had been drawn out before it had been hit by an errant gust of wind.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," I muttered, wincing as my head flared in agony.

One anchor was a pain to keep a firm hold off, I could only imagine how trying to grasp more would be. I shook my head of the hopelessness, this was my first attempt at the spell and after the whole Pain spell taking almost a week, I hadn't house and delusions at how tough a spell of this calibre would be.

To try again now would mean a headache, as quietly as I could I went to the kitchen searching through it for food. I found a batch of muffins and my heart nearly broke at the thought that Grams had been making these for me when I returned. The line of thought led to others, whispers from a girl I know knew as Anna saying that her death could be avoided. I needed to stop the thoughts. I took out my phone and called Elena, asking for Jeremy.

"Micah," he said, his voice sounding as though he had just woken up. "What's up?"

"I was just worried," I said. "You were kidnapped and I haven't seen you. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Jeremy. "How about you? I heard about—"

"I'd rather not talk about it," I said, interrupting him. "I need you to distract me."

He did. We spent an hour talking about the most stupid of things. I liked it, not having to think about anything but the conversation. He said nothing about being kidnapped and compelled, about Anna or about…We just talked about normal stuff. Plans for college and the lessons he still said he'd give me on drawing. I let him sleep after sometime, feeling quite tired myself, but before I could go to sleep I needed to have another try at getting a simple Boundary spell in play. The second time was just as bad as the first.

I grabbed a two muffins and went into the living room, Bonnie was reading over the grimoire her face scrunched in frustration. She looked up, grabbing the muffin as I tossed it at her.

"Tell me about it," I said through a bite.

"Ties that bind," she said. "The Link is dual natured but this can be varied to the experience witch. The Link's most basic function is entwined with voodoo, hair has ties to its holder and thus a spell can be cast at a distance."

"Useful, that," I muttered.

"But that is not a practice for novices," Bonnie continued. "For one to grasp the basics of Linking spells they need to be able to wield the strongest of links, those that already exist. The Tracking spell is one such method."

"Didn't know the Tracking spell were a form of Linking spell," I said.

"I can't track anything of worth so I tried bypassing that and going straight for a Linking spell, only problem is, I can't. Forming a link requires a line between the two objects, preferably with an element of choice. Fire is not an element I can use without burning the house."

"You could try a localised fire," I said. "Alcohol and then burn it to form a link."

"Thought of that and looked around, I couldn't find any." I frowned in thought, but as I looked at Bonnie she didn't have the face of someone defeated, instead she had a glint in her eyes.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"Give me a moment," she got up and when to the kitchen and after some clutter she returned with a glass of water. She put in on the table and sat next to me. "The basics said I should work on links which already exist. Nature is interconnected," she said. "So I was thinking, what if I used water to fuel a flame?"

"Don't those two elements oppose each other?" I asked.

"They do," she said. "But isn't it true that in this world we live, magic trumps physics."

"True that," I muttered. "Go ahead."

Bonnie took a breath and I could focus write itself across his features. The glass bubbled, some water spilling and I prepared myself for it to shatter into pieces only to be both disappointed and surprised as a flame sprouted from the water. The flame burned and I gave a slow clap.

"I did not expect that to work," I said. "How did you do it?"

"I imagine it's what it feels like with your bursts of knowledge. I could almost feel the links between the spell and myself, I turned it towards the water and since the flame can't sustain itself it drew power from the water."

"I remember feeling the same thing the first time I cast the Spell of Motion," I said after a bit of thought. "But now I've cast the spell so many times that it's become periphery. Do you think I could do that too? Sustain the spell by turning the connections to an element?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Surest way to know is to try it out," she said as she looked with pride towards her flame. "I'm just wondering if all this isn't dangerous."

"It's the reason I'm outsourcing power all the time," I said. "The limits of my core are unknown. It's better to keep channelling for safety's sake."

"Probably a good idea," said Bonnie. "What say you we go to sleep and pick this up in the morning?"

I nodded. "I'll send dad a text that we're here." I did as I'd said and received a message an instant later saying he would come around in the morning to make sure we went to school. I got to my room and stared at the window for a long time before deciding it was safer to sleep on the floor, not that I got much sleep.

It seemed that in my dreams I couldn't escape.

I chose to stop my attempts at sleep when the clock hit four in the morning. I wasn't invigorated as such, but I wasn't as tired as I would have been had I not let the nightmares run through a few times. After a shower I made myself a strong cup of coffee, thinking about nothing as I slowly drank the steaming brew and watching as the sun tinged the sky red: _Vampire would be skulking into their various holes. _

At the thought my mind went to the situation: Stefan. I could feel the pull of consideration coming over me but I managed to push it back enough for something more important. I called my dad.

"Micah, hey," he said, he voice a sleepy drawl.

"Morning, dad," I said. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Dad hummed. "I'm good," he said. "Last might was very productive."

"Was it?"

Dad might have nodded. He paused for a long time before he let out a sigh. "She's making a horde," he said, the soberness in his tone filtering through the sleepy nature. "We managed to take down two already, both of them from out of town, but the way she's keeping it quiet we're opting to suspect anyone that's gone missing for a few days as having been turned."

I thought of Vicki. "Have there be any reports of anyone missing?" I asked.

"A few," dad said, "but it's hard to tell whether it was people enjoying the last of their days off or because of her. We're looking into them though. Be on the lookout," he said. "Logan Fell and Vicki Donovan." My heart clenched, did I tell dad that Vicki was a vampire?

"Vicki's been turned," I said without another thought.

Dad stayed quiet for a long time and then he sighed. "You've seen her?"

"When we were at the Salvatores," I said. "They're teaching her to be a functional member of society. Good thing too, that girl doesn't have much in the way of self-control."

"Does the brother know?"

"No, but I think I'm going to tell him today. He needs to be aware and not invite her in, like I said, I doubt her self-control."

"There's too many vampires in this town for my liking," dad said, "and with the device in play hiding them will be hard."

"Device?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's a relic from the first time the town faced vampires," dad said. "It can track them."

"Magic?"

"I'm told it was built by a Gilbert," he said, "though I quite doubt it. I'm thinking a magical device. Your mother told me once upon a time that such things might exist but they were behind her power. She did say though that a witch in her family was known to be quite good at them." Emily, I thought. "Anyway it's effective, it's the only way we were able to find the two vampires we got. Two more deputies will be taking the dayshift, were hoping we might be able to interrogate one of them into leading us to her location."

"Which will be significantly harder I the questions are hedging away from revealing both the Salvatores and Vicki," I muttered running a hand through my buzz of hair. "I wonder if she thought this might happen," I said. "If all this was a part of her plan."

"Either way it puts us at an awkward position," dad said. "I'm thinking about telling Liz about all this," he said. "I won't be able to deter attention from the obvious truth on my own."

"Two head are better than one, the common phrase says," I muttered. "Maybe she'll be sympathetic. I don't think she's killed anyone, that's a plus."

"Let's hope the same for Logan Fell," my dad said. "I knew him and he wasn't too bad, a little too cocky for my taste but he doesn't deserve killing solely for that."

I heard movement from upstairs. "Dad. Can we not go to school today? I don't think I'll be able to handle people giving me their condolences. I think I just might flip out."

"Running away from problem is not the way I taught you," he said.

"I'm not running away, at this point that's impossible, but I'm stalling, focusing on more urgent matters before welling up in whatever emotional breakdown is waiting for me at the end of it all."

"Important matters being?" dad asked. I closed off, saying nothing. He sighed. "How does you sister feel about this?"

"Honestly, we weren't going to go in the first place," I said. "We hadn't planned what we were going to do but the end result would have been us back at Grams' either way."

"Okay," he said. "But the two of you aren't allowed to do anything dangerous."

I gave a hum that I knew would do nothing to ease him. "Have a good day, dad."

"You too, above all, stay safe."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

"I feel I should say this is wrong," Bonnie said, joining me as we scaled up the small steps and to the front door. It was still early enough in the morning that not many people were awake, and even if they were they wouldn't be looking through their windows.

"We're working towards the greater good," I said, hefting out the piece of paper I had written the spell, looking through the description. I lay my hand on the handle, tested it first and I was a little happy to find it was locked. "Fractos."

A sound of metal filled the air, a clang sounded on the other side of the door before the knob on this side of the door fell as well. I pushed the door, a grinding sound as the door hit knob on the other side of the door.

"I kind of like the simple spells," I said as we entered. "They're easier to manage that Links or Boundaries."

"And easier to break and enter with," Bonnie muttered. She followed, juggling the town map and two candles in her hands. She put them down the moment she had the door closed; she looked around the house and let out a whistle.

"Mr Fell had style," she said.

"Has," I corrected, "for the time being there isn't much that says he's missing except missing the news three times."

"Which is three times too many by Caroline's account," said Bonnie. "She'll be interested why we wanted to know where his house is," she said. "Especially when he comes up as missing."

"I think the council will cover that up as best as it can," I said. "If he were missing it would mean too much attention on the workings of our little town." Bonnie nodded. "I'll search downstairs you search up?"

She gave me a nod and climbed up the stairs.

The problem with my mind was that it focused too much on the larger picture. When my father had told me of Logan Fell it had said he would be useful, how he would be useful wasn't something I had yet thought of but having a vampire that was purely on my side, or one that I could at least get to that point, was an interesting prospect. The device was dangerous to that endeavour, but all things considered it was helping too; it could find vampires and my enemy right now was a vampire who had given me a day until she killed another of those I loved.

Focus. I looked around the house for anything which might have a strong connection to Mr Fell, searching through the clean mess that was his house. It was a demeaning stereotype that guys were sloppy, but seeing such a clean house belonging to a bachelor sent shivers down my spine and the feeling of unnaturalness radiating from it. I searched the living room and his study, looking through the books he deemed interesting enough to own.

Nothing interesting though the guy had an amazing surround sound system hooked up to his gaming consoles. I was envious. Fifteen minutes searching and I couldn't find anything with a personal touch on it. Hopefully Bonnie would have much better luck. I got started up with the preparations of the spell: I moved the furniture and the carpet, getting started in drawing out the trying with a piece of chalk, circles at each point large enough that a candle could fit within. The candles went into the circles and after a muttered word I got each of the candles to light up. I didn't like the feel of chalk to gather power, but Grams' notes said it would work for the spell. I retrieved the map and laid it out within the triangle.

I waited in the circle until Bonnie was done looking. I didn't have to wait too long, she came down the stairs holding a tooth and hand brush. "This should work," she said. "He must use them enough that we'll get a strong connection."

I shrugged. "I don't know enough about the workings of Links to know anything," I said, something I would have to fix when I had more time. I still hadn't forgotten my interest when it came with the Linking spell Grams had shown us, linking something to a point in time. There was too much potential in that great a power for me not to know about it.

She entered the circle and took a seat on the other side of the map, looking between the items in her hands. "How is this going to work?" she asked. "This isn't blood."

"I hadn't thought that through, honestly," I said. The original plan when we had been planning on finding Jeremy had been to channel both fire and earth, using Elena's blood to find a connection, without the blood though things got complicated.

We spent a few minutes in silence before. "I have an idea, but it might be dangerous and it will mean us getting another map of the town."

"Go ahead."

She gave a nod and took my hands, both of which was in the awkward position of holding the hair and toothbrush; she closed her eyes and I took that as a cue to do the same, reaching out to the chalk and feeling the slightly off quality from its power, but then there was something else…a second heartbeat entwined with my own. Before, listening to my element it had felt like a heartbeat, but now, with clear comparison to Bonnie's power I could hear the difference: the power of earth no longer was a roar of a heart but instead a resonance, a vibration which filled me with power. In the background, far further than I could reach I could hear a crackle, fire perhaps?

I didn't pay it much attention as an impulse hit me. I said the spell, Bonnie's higher pitch the only reason I could tell she had said the spell as well. It seemed as though magic compelled us both, moving us to say the spell at the same time with the same effects in mind.

We repeated the spell's words a second time: I was hit by an image, a dank and dark place, windows boarded up and higher than the average building and crates, a lot of crates. I said the spell again, compelled by magic. The image became clearer, resolving itself in my mind, but not the location. I said the spell again but this time there was fire, the smell of it coming directly in front of me and a warmth under my arms. I wanted to open my eyes and check but the spell wasn't done, we said the phrase a fourth time and I could see Mr Fell, he was pacing, his head twitching at intervals and his mouth moving in words I couldn't hear.

The image disintegrated and I was pulled back; I looked down as my eye caught the sight of smoke and the map had burnt, leaving a single piece that had a location. Bonnie picked it up and looked it over.

"I know where this is," she said. I nodded. "So what do we do know?"

"We get him on our side," I said.

"I know that part, but how?" she asked. "He can't be that old, there's no telling that he won't just attack us."

"Even vampires have a healthy sense of self-preservation, Vicki is proof enough of that."

Bonnie sighed. "I'm going to have to give him a deadly migraine, won't I?"

"You're the most effective at the spell."

We packed everything up, put everything back in order except for the lock, unfortunately there hadn't been a spell to fix damage of that nature. Bonnie drove and I watched our surroundings, she would be the only one out and about with her daylight ring, and I was thinking more and more that all the vampires she'd turned were means of a diversion. She knew about the device somehow, maybe she had gleamed that information from the unknown amount of people she had compelled.

It was really worrying the web of people that the girl had in her command or her planning skills, I could have sworn she knew the future just as I, planning ahead effectively so that even when she was within our grasp we wouldn't be able to kill her. There were only two ways I could tell which would enable us to get out of this situation with as little people dead as possible: giving her what she wanted or leveraging that which she wanted.

There were vampires in the Tomb, most probably her family, and she wanted them out, but she'd lost me my family in the process. I had to change the situation on her, get her to be at my mercy, but nothing would be enough; she'd…the act she had committed was unforgiveable, the more vengeful part of me couldn't just let her walk off unscathed. I needed to pay her back on that, the how was something I hadn't figured out yet.

The car stopped and I could see the building, worn and rundown, and the windows higher than a usual building. "That's the place," I muttered and Bonnie gave a nod, she would have received the vision too. Mr Fell would be inside, pacing and muttering to himself.

"Plan?" Bonnie asked.

"We go in and talk to him," I said.

"I know that, but I'm talking about details," she said. "There's a chance that he might be working for her."

I took a breath, letting my mind run wild. "The thing he'll want the most right now is for things to get back to normal," I said, "and to escape the danger posed by the Founder's Council, something that will be exceptionally hard seeing as he can't walk in daylight."

Bonnie smirked, already leaping to the endings of my plan. "We play him," she said. "Make him think we can build Daylight rings, get him on our side, if he is working for her then we have an inside man." I gave her a nod. "There's still some issues we'll have to work out though," she said. "If Anna has thought a myriad of this situations through, then this might be one of them. We need to play her too. Make her think she's still in control."

I gave her another nod, the plan becoming more vivid in my mind; we continued in this vain for the time until the smell of sage started to wane from the car, deciding after which it was time to act. I grabbed a clump of sage from the sage bush in the glove box, shoving it in my pocket. The spell was useful, but always having sage in my pockets was something that would soon get annoying. There had to be a more functional alternative.

We walked around the place for a few minutes until we found a thick metal door with rusted edges. I tested it and found it locked from the other side. I put my finger on where I knew the lock would be but I was stopped by Bonnie.

"New rules with spells," she said. "We alternate until such a point that both of us a good with them."

"You just want to do the spell don't you?" Bonnie looked abashed. I shrugged and watched. She took a breath and said the spell, it took three tries before we heard a large clunk as something hit the floor on the other side; Bonnie flicked her hand and the door flew open, sunlight streaming into the factory.

"Mr Fell," I said, speaking loud and slow, making sure not to enter. "This is Micah. I know you're in there, can we talk?"

No one answered.

"We know what you are," said Bonnie. "We know about the girl. We're not here to hurt you."

There was only a snort.

"You don't have to worry about hurting us too," I said. "We're like you after a fashion. Supernatural. We can help you."

Mr Fell suddenly appeared at the edge of where the light hit, staring at us with veiny eyes. "I want nothing more than to eat you right now," he said. "I don't want to do that, honestly, but if you don't leave I feel like I might brave the sunlight to get at your throats."

"Like we said," Bonnie said. "You don't have to worry about hurting us." To emphasise her point I pulled out the sage, and said two spells. He looked mildly surprised at that.

"What are you?" he asked.

"Witches," Bonnie answered.

"Novices so far, but it helps to have us on your side," I put in. "But for that you need to tell us what happened to you. Everything."

Mr Fell ran a hand through his hair. "I'm a little uncertain how me telling you how I became like _this _will help me out of this predicament," he said.

"For one we can point you to the right people to help you control your urges," I said.

"Then there's the council. We've recently found out they have a device that can find kind." There was something to expression, it happened so fast that were I not watching him fiercely I might have missed. "We have someone on the inside that will help keep the hounds away from you, so to speak." The expression he'd had quickly changed to slight amusement.

"Careful there kids, or I might think you're with the men in black. You have someone on the inside?" he asked with the same amusement.

"Blame the wording on too many movies," I said. "But it's still true. We've been dealing with the vampire thing since they first arrived in some capacity," I told him. "We've been dealing in particular with the girl that might have turned you."

"You know her?" he asked, losing the amusement.

"Yes, but we want to know more," Bonnie said. "Like why she turned you."

Mr Fell shook his head. "I don't know. I just remember waking up with a blood bag next to me." He let out a drawn out breath. "I couldn't resist it," he said. "The blood just called out to me." I felt a twinge of sympathy. "Now I'm like this. I can't walk out during the day and at night I'm afraid that I might kill someone. It's becoming harder to resist."

This was not something I had been waiting for, him actually being sympathetic. Bonnie and I shared a look, both of us with frowns on how to go one, telling him he'd have the Salvatores for help had been something of a lie because Damon was gone and by the end of the day Stefan needed to be neutralised.

I let out a sigh. "The best thing to do now is stay here," I said. "We'll get someone to pick you up tonight and put you somewhere you can't hurt any people."

"Thanks," he muttered. We turned to leave. "Wait. Can you call Jenna for me? We were supposed to go on a date some time ago but with me disappearing she must think I stood her up."

"We will, Mr Fell," said Bonnie.

"Thanks again."

"Motus," I said and the door shut with a loud metallic clang. Bonnie and I shared another look, one that I could read quite well:

_Well that was quite unexpected. _

The moment we got into the car actual word were shared.

"I sort of feel horrible we thought about using him," said Bonnie. "I've never seen someone look that depressed before."

I hummed. "Maybe he's just a pawn in all this," I said. "Maybe Anna really was making diversions to outwit the device. He seemed to know about though."

"Really?"

I gave her a nod. "I just didn't want to ask him right then, though," I said. "I think it would have seemed a little insensitive."

"It would have been," said Bonnie. "What are we going to do?"

"Find somewhere we can stash him, feed him blood on the down low?"

"Of course that's if Stefan doesn't willingly agree to leave," Bonnie said. "You said we'd talk to him first."

"Just in case he doesn't though it would be the best thing if we had Vervain handy." Bonnie shook her head.

"This is too much," she muttered. "Elena's going to kill me when she finds out all about this."

We stopped at our house to grab some of the Vervain plants before we left, buying a few dozen pots on the way. Bonnie had some trouble with the spell, but eventually she got the hang of it; we alternated between the two, a fifteen minute break in which we would grow more Vervain and then going back to our respective spells. It was slowly getting easier to cast the Boundary spell, and by slow I mean glacially slow, focusing on the many aspects of the spell at once was something I was having trouble with but I didn't give up. It would be soon that Anna would reach out to me with her mission, I had to be prepared.

Fours were spent during the day getting accustomed to our respective spells, the few times I walked into the living room it was to the sight of two glasses encircled by fire and a line connecting them; Bonnie would be over them, muttering the phrase of her spell over and over. I didn't do that too much in worry that I might break her concentration.

Another hour and we had burned through our pots; I got to work harvesting the plants, put in fresh dirt and repeated the process. Another hour and I was bored by the tedium of it all. I paused, just sitting and making notes in my journal. I looked over the grimoire for any spells that looked quick and easy to learn or in the vain of the Daylight ring spell. She didn't have the spell for the daylight ring, which I expected, she didn't have any vampire friends and thus would have never needed the spell, but then something hit me, she was missing a few other spells. I checked over the grimoire again and found a few spells she'd used missing, the Mind Binding spell being one and the Protection spell being the other. Where were they?

No, you're getting distracted, I thought. The Protection spell would be useful, but it didn't matter in the grand scheme because I could guess it would take a long time to learn to cast that it would be redundant in the current situation. I went back to my Boundary spell, noting that I would have to buy a lot of salt because the power within that of my failed attempts was not enough for reuse.

The afternoon came along and I was outright bored out of my mind. Who would have thought magic would make me feel this way? It didn't matter in the end though, because now was the moment of truth, in half an hour Stefan Salvatore would be walking through our door. I needed to get the Vervain ready.

* * *

AN: I've been having the reverse of writer's block, which I find since I'm supposed to be studying and don't have as much time to write as I would like, but the few moments that I've been able to scrounge up I've been working at the story. It's moving along, the plot thickening and I'm beginning to think I've made the villain too powerful, but then that's what proves the protagonist, right?

I hope the readers enjoy the direction and yeah, at this point it should be evident that I will not be focusing on the romance.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Jars. It never bit me before this point how useful they could be. They were the smallest thing I could move and it was the layer keeping the magical solution from within from draining us like crazy. Bonnie and I had placed them at random parts of the living room, not exactly hiding them, after all a degree of preparation in case of attack could be expected, and if he noticed them hidden he might notice something was up and be prepared.

"We talk to him first," Bonnie said for the twelfth time in an hour. She didn't like the plan, that we would Vervain Stefan and lock him in our basement if he said he wouldn't leave town, but this was our family and friends who stood to get hurt, and as much as I was thankful for the dude for saving me, there was no way I wasn't going to lose anyone else.

"You will," I said. "I'll listen. I doubt I can say anything any better than you that might be able to change his mind."

"You're starting to scare me," Bonnie said. "Every thought you tell me seems to be stepping on moral lines. We find out about Fell and the first thing you tell me are methods of getting him on our side, not taking into account that he might not like being a vampire."

"It's cold thinking," I said, "but right now we need allies. This whole Anna thing is a mess that I just want to put a stop to and thinking about anything else is time I can't put in trying to solve the problem at hand."

Bonnie gave me a look I couldn't say I liked, as though she was looking to the core of my being and deciphering it. With everything that had been happening it wasn't something I had much time to think about, but with how well Bonnie could read me, did she see that I was lying to her when I spoke of my claircognizance? No, it couldn't be. She would have something already.

"You know it wasn't your fault, right?" she said, the word catching me off-guard enough that I was left jolted, shaken to my core. Her words made me think, made the thoughts keeping me up at night come back afresh.

I took a breath, looking left and right before deciding we had enough time. "I don't want to talk about this," I muttered, already moving towards the drawing room. "I'll give another attempt to making a boundary before Stefan arrives."

She said something but the door to the drawing room was already closing and I was setting up. I pushed myself further, fuelled by my inner turmoil I found it easier to balance to outflow of power because I wasn't relying as much on having to draw in power from the salt. My head began to pound but I let myself feel for the first time, Anna's words that all this could have been avoided, me calling Stefan and coming home to find Grams shot; more emotion, more fuel that I didn't need to draw from the salt and I was halfway done, the edges of darkness closing in but unbearably slow.

I had to go back to using the salt as power again, a taxing exercise as I had to juggle the various aspects of the spell; focus on the line, focus on receiving and exerting power, the incantation and then there was trying to just keep pushing myself forward. Three quarters of the ways down and the darkness was almost to the point where I would lose consciousness. I couldn't let that happened. I let the spell go, feeling as the salt dispersed.

A sigh left me. I took my journal and found the page I had been scripting information about the Boundary spell: _Development, _I wrote. _I seem to not be adept at finding balance. Fuelling the spell with my own power seems to be much easier than having to draw in power from my element. I think this might be the reason Bonnie and I casting the Tracking spell was so easy (refer to experiences on pages 9-15) we were channelling each other and thus more power at our disposal. _

_Spell might be easier with her in the mix. The internet says power is of passion, emotion, Bonnie's elemental affinity might make initial creation of a boundary easier, but this solution is bound to leave me lazy. _

_I need to be able to do this by myself._

How? I frowned, absently chewing the end of my pen in thought. I remembered the situation at the Lockwood Estate. It had taken just a few seconds in which I had lost my concentration, but Anna had been able to escape, the same had been true when I had been keeping a hold on Tyler. I hadn't been able to talk to the Salvatore brothers while keeping Tyler aloft. Maybe I could overcome the inability to focus on the many aspects of the spell when I was able to make my mind work on some aspects on an unconscious level.

Did this mean I had to practice diligently at this one spell or could I work on the Motion spell, have it so that I could keep a firm grasp on someone while having a civilised conversation, and the effects passing through to Boundary spells? After a few minutes thoughts I decided that perhaps working on both seemed the most balanced thing to do, I also made a note to at least try the spell with Bonnie, see what it felt like to complete a Boundary.

A knock interrupted my thoughts, I said a spell and the door flew open perhaps with more vigour than I had intended.

"I fear for your sanity sometimes," I heard from the door, I was used to the voice to know it was Jeremy. He walked in a closed the door. "Sitting cross-legged with an uncompleted circle around you and a room illuminated only by candles—"

"You know you just used the word illuminated when there were much less frequently used alternative, right?" I said, interrupting whatever he had been about to say.

"Seemed right," Jeremy said. "I would have done an English accent as I said that, but I've never been good at imitation." I turned and eyebrow raised in question. "Everything about what just happened had a villainous tinge to it," said Jeremy. "The curtains closed, candles and you being a lazy bum and not opening the door or saying, 'come in' like regular people do."

"Two words when I could use one? Where's the sense in that?"

Jeremy snorted. "What are you doing anyway?"

"Trying to make a boundary," I told him. "Keep everything on the other side of the circle out."

"A magic circle," Jeremy muttered. "How is it going?"

"Slowly, but faster than the headache spell it took me two weeks to learn," I told him. "I think I might have a working magic circle done by tonight, albeit it won't be a functional method."

"Why's that?"

I threw him my journal. "Page 7 and 8 are my work concerning the boundary. They're a little all over the place but when I'm successful I'll transfer my work to something like a grimoire."

Jeremy was quiet. I took a glance and I could see him taking in my words, reading them over as though he was committing the processes of the spell with the mind to casting the spell at another point time.

"Much as this is interesting I don't understand much of it," he said. He closed the journal and tossed it back at me. I fumbled, but I caught the damned thing. "Still having trouble with the small things?"

"Yeah, but I'm certain it will get easier at some point," I said.

Jeremy gave me a nod. "I was supposed to call you out a long time ago. Bonnie said she had something to say to Stefan and that you being there with her would help. We should probably get to that."

A nod and I stood, making my way out and into the living room. Stefan sat in a couch small couch by himself, Bonnie and Elena together and both of them with too much emotion for my liking, there was too much pity in Elena and Stefan's eyes, particularly when they looked my way. I took a seat on a couch that looked directly at Stefan, Jeremy choosing the only sitting on the armrest to my left, an awkward silence hung in the air.

I looked at Bonnie.

She started with clearing her throat and looked at Stefan. "Micah and I have been working since…" she spared me a glance and her eyes worked. "Since everything," she said after a bit of silence, she'd changed what she was going to say to spare me? My jaw clenched, oddly thankful. "Planning for the future and discussing the best way of attack where the girl is concerned."

She paused a little and I felt an impulse to speak, to expand on her thoughts, get the twin thing flowing, but I held it back. I could see her twitch because she'd stopped deliberately for the same reason.

"Micah felt that your brother might know something about this tomb," he said, "and last night we went to speak to him. It was informative."

Stefan's brows were raised at this. "You got Damon to give you information?" he asked with disbelief. "How do you know he was telling the truth?"

"He was," I said. "Or at least his act was good enough that I believed him. But either way he gave us information that resonated, explained his earlier behaviour."

"Like why he was willing to help us," said Bonnie. "But that's not the important part. We know a little about the girl, Anna, and her end goal, but even with that information she still has us at a disadvantage; she's still leveraging the lives for our compliance."

"What does she want you to do?" Stefan asked.

"She wants you to stop hunting her," said Bonnie, "she wants you out of town and she gave us a deadline that ends in three or so hours."

Stefan was frowning and Elena was muttering something I didn't quite catch. "Anna," he said and I was caught off guard that he was fixated on her more than the fact that in a matter of being hours, him being here would get someone killed. "Tell me everything Damon told you."

Bonnie made to speak but I caught her eyes, she closed it and Stefan noticed, turning to me. "I admit we've never taken on a vampire before," I said, "but as we've discussed with Bonnie, compliance is a best bet at the moment, so after we've told you everything you need to know. You have to leave, until this mess is dealt with."

"You understand that this is setting a bad precedent, right?" said Stefan. "Witches are commodities, if you keep giving her what she'll keep coming back for more."

"A chance I'm willing to take, honestly," I said. Bonnie nodded.

Stefan sighed, his fingers at his mouth and in thought. "It will be hard," he said. "Since Damon left I've been looking after Vicki, training her, but I can call a friend of mine, disappear for the night and leave her there."

"Wait, what about Matt?" asked Elena. "I've tried talking to him, telling him not to worry, but he says Vicki's never disappeared without calling him before. He's worried."

"Easiest thing to do would be to just tell him," said Jeremy. "Vicki's going to be a vampire for most of her life, now. Hiding that wouldn't work out in the long-run."

"Agreed," I said.

"There might be backlash," said Stefan. "Not everyone accepts the existence of the supernatural so easily."

"He'll accept it," I said. "Might take some doing at first but with time I think this entire town would accept anything."

Stefan shook his head. "This town is paved with more blood than you know," he said. "Testing their acceptance would be a mistake. But we digress. I'll leave, work in the shadows, looking into what she wants though I think might have an idea."

"Before you leave there's been another development," I said. "Mr Fell was turned into a vampire too?"

"We thinking it might be larger ploy to hide herself from a device that can find vampires," said Bonnie.

"The Gilbert compass," Stefan said, not missing a beast. "I remember Johnathan using it on his and my father's hunts."

"Gilbert compass?" it was Elena that asked.

"A device Johnathan Gilbert invented, I'm sure there's witchery in there, maybe Emily's work," he muttered.

"How come we've never heard anything like this?" Jeremy asked.

"It should be in your family's journal," Stefan said. "Most of the founders kept them."

"How would they have gotten it though?" asked Jeremy. "It's rightfully ours and yet the town council's out there using it without our permission."

"Maybe Jenna?" Elena mused. "She could have learnt it to them."

"Either way it's not important," said Stefan. "It's a problem with how many vampires we'll have to be stashing in our home, especially since none will be able to get in with Zach still owning the house."

"I hadn't thought of that," I said.

"I don't blame you," he said. "But I wish you might have told me. With Zach getting out of all this there's something I think he would have been happy to have." He shook his head. "He'll have to leave with me, I'm sure Lexi will like teaching again."

"Thank you, Stefan," said Bonnie and I nodded in kind, this was definitely better than me dousing him with Vervain and locking him in the basement.

"I should go and tell Vicki," he said, standing. Elena and Jeremy stood with him.

"I want to see Vicki before she leaves," said Jeremy. Elena looked as though he was going to protest but she held back.

"I'll tell Matt. She'll want to see him too," said Elena. "What will you two do in the mean time?"

"Practice for a while," I said.

"I need to go and see dad," said Bonnie. "Can I get a ride?"

"Sure," said Stefan. I watched them leave and for a moment I was lost in the empty house. I took the time to restock my salt supplies and then head to the library. Sitting still wasn't something I didn't like, it made me think that I was useless, without power, and I needed to change that.

A large amount of water and I got to the task of searching through the town's history; Damon had asked Emily to protect vampires that were close to being killed, obviously the town would try and cover it up, so I had to look for a large number of deaths. I didn't find anything at first, the information needed a reference point and I wasn't all that good with dates. Soon I turned the search to Emily and quickly found the period in which she had lived, and with here there was a name I knew too well. Katherine Pierce.

It was as if a shroud of darkness had suddenly come off me. Katherine, a doppelganger and first love to both the Salvatores. Damon, in the first season, had still loved her, wanting to go to the ends of the earths with her. She was the one in that tomb Damon wanted to release…but there felt something off about that, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. I focused back on the search, correlating that with an obscene amount of deaths.

I found something, civilians accidently killed in the burning of Fell's church. I wrote down the address and after some thought printed out more than a dozen sets of the town's layout. The librarian gave me a strange look as I was heading out, pretty much everyone else was doing the same, but I guessed it had more to do with that my grandmother had died than my peculiarities. I returned, looking further into the town's history. Emily had wanted protection for her descendants, why? I knew it was not what I should be thinking about but I was still curious.

My search this time was focused on Emily, there was surprisingly much about her, but then again it seemed her role was taboo at the time, her treatment that of a new tide. That is, of course, until it was discovered that she had been friend to a vampire. It wasn't explicitly said, but I could see the turning tide in news regarding her; two years' worth of newspapers read skimmed through and the last of Emily were the trials of being a witch.

I could understand why my father had feared telling the town's council about us at that moment. I shuddered, perhaps this was the reason I didn't like history, because often times it was filled with darkness. Witch burnings, I thought, choosing to find the positive. They would be a perfect source of power, blood could be channelled and it would be a lot more powerful since it was the blood of witches, at least that was my theory. But there was still the obvious problem of not knowing how to invoke the power of the spirits or act without them forbidding some of the darker aspects I knew I would find useful.

Then again, I thought, it might not be the case. Emily had helped a vampire, an unforgiveable act to many witches, maybe she wouldn't be as rigid as many of the other spirits on the Other Side. Anyway the point was null, I didn't know how to invoke the spirits, I briefly thought about the Vervain witch but Grams' words resonated, no witch gives information without a motive.

I needed to figure this out myself.

First, though, was the Tomb. I wondered as I sat, taking a reprieve from the large amount of information I'd been forced to read through, how tough this spell could be. Damon had said it had used an insane amount of power to create, but the Grams had already taught me a spell which would temporarily disable a boundary, did that mean then I could easily disable the thing if I could find the power?

I was hit by an idea, but at the same time I was filled with an amount of dread because I would be giving Anna what she wanted.

_I'll get my revenge later, _I thought, _for now I had to make Anna a non-threat._


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

The knock was expected. Night had fallen and a call had told me Stefan and his contingent of new vampires had left a few hours ago, leaving the Salvatore abode empty and Anna freer to work her end game; opening the Tomb filled with vampires, vampires who would be hungry and vengeful for nearly being killed.

I shook my head, if I thought too much about that large fact then I would have to consider not releasing them, finding a way to take care of Anna and deal with the damage of a collateral nature. But if that collateral damage were the people I loved, then it was something I couldn't even consider.

I stood and made my way to the door, the sight that greeted me surprised me a little.

"I was expecting Anna," I said to the familiar face. Ben. I remembered the face quite well, well his face and every other aspect of him; is it not a crime that football players can be that hot while playing a contact sport. Ben stood about my height, my build those his would be termed lean and while mine would be wiry, his hair dark and his skin pale.

"Micah," he said with a wry grin that made my stomach do flips. Damn the hormones. "Can I come in?"

"I honestly can't think of a reason that would make me do that," I said. Hot as he was, right now he was working with Anna, a girl who's created events which had ended in a tragedy I had told myself I would stop.

"Anna sent me," he said, the words measured all of a sudden, and I might have been imagining it but I thought I noticed a note of anxiety. "She's got a job for you to do."

"Again, that's not exactly a reason for you to let you in. If anything, you're starting to look like a healthy alternative of venting my anger."

Ben took a breath, turned and looked around, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a picture. He handed it over, his hand stopping on the boundary of the door. I took the picture hesitantly, making sure to keep a firm gaze planted on him in case he tried anything.

I took it, looking at the picture. It was of a woman, her skin dark and wearing attire that was a few decades old, one her neck she wore a large necklace with an ember stone. Looking at her I had the vague sense that I had seen her before. I looked back at Ben.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" I asked, and looking at him I could see a note of disappointment on his features. Was I missing something? Focus, Micah.

"Anna says find that picture," he said.

"How am I supposed to do that?" I asked.

Ben shrugged. "I don't know, but your deadline is shorter. By morning you need to have that necklace in your possession," he said. "I'm supposed to be watching over you to make sure you don't try anything. Hence, you have to let me in."

"No," I said and I closed the door, looking at the picture once more. The feeling that I knew her really resonated with me, maybe she had been a character I had completely overlooked in the series. I took a picture and sent it to Bonnie: _I'm supposed to find the necklace. Help with a Tracking spell? _

I found Gram's grimoire and turned over to her work with the Tracking spell. The entire spell was built on the concept of connecting threads, links strong enough that they would survive the strain of being tugged at by magic. It was the reason we had been able to find Mr Fell with his brushes, every time he had used the implements he had left a part of himself behind, but in this case I didn't know a way of finding the necklace without finding the woman in the picture or any of her relatives.

My phone buzzed: _On way. Where did u get photo? _

_Ben the hot football player gave it to me. He's a vampire. Be prepared, he might be outside. _

_Ok. Do you know woman? _

_No. Should I? _

_Check photo album. Shld b in bukcase._

I frowned at that but I did as told, skimming through the photos until I found her, wearing a different set of clothes but still with the gaudy necklace on her; another look through the album and I found that for many of the women on photos they wore the same necklace until a point in the newer photos that they didn't.

Familial connection, I thought. The necklace would have been in the Bennett line long enough that even if we hadn't received the necklace, there would be ties between us and it.

Genius, I thought. Anna seemed like a damned genius. Everything she did seemed to have many meaning behind it. When Noah had said they needed a Bennett witch, I had thought it was to open the Tomb, but now I was second guessing that. What if all she wanted was the pendant? A pendant she would only be able to find with our blood.

It couldn't be though. If she had only wanted our blood, then she could have just taken it when…well, she'd had the opportunity to take it. She must still need us to open the Tomb, but why would she wanted the necklace?

I frowned, thinking deeply, trying to draw connections between Anna, the Tomb, our family and the necklace, trying to put it all within context. What could the necklace mean in the greater scheme? A few minutes spent and I didn't find anything, I couldn't find a link until something hit me. Spells usually died with their caster unless they were bound to something, in this case it would be the necklace.

This would have to be my leverage, she had the lives of those I loved but I too could have something she wanted. After all the girl was like me in way, she didn't like taking direct confrontations and only worked through others, it seemed though she was more adapt at it, actually having the pawns that would do her bidding.

I needed that.

I looked at the door and knew beyond there would be Ben, could I perhaps turn the tide, make him watch Anna for me, get a read of her character? It was worth a try. I said the spell and the door popped open. Ben, who had been leaning against the door, didn't budge, held by the Protection of Invitation.

"Come in," I said and the magic that he had been leaning on promptly disappeared, causing the vampire to fall back and hit the floor hard.

He winced and I smirked. "You could have warned me," he muttered, finding his feet and rubbing the back of his head. He walked in and closed the door. "You're going to try and turn me against Anna, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "Are you willing to be turned?"

"Check the back of the picture," he said.

I did. I got Emily's picture and turned it over, reading the words _I'm willing to help for a ring._

I smirked. "I can help with that," I said. "But you have to be willing to do a few things for me."

"I can't kill her," said Ben. "She's older than me. Stronger. The only person that might have put up a challenge is that Stefan guy and you sent him away."

I shook my head. "I just need to know a few things, like if she's turned anymore people. I already know about you, Mr Fell and Vicki. There were two others, has she told you anything?"

He shook his head. "She plays everything close to the chest. All I know is the end goal and that I should keep moving, apparently there are hunters out there?"

"There's a sort of secret society in our little town, it's their duty to protect the town from vampires. They'll be after you as we speak." I looked at him and saw his worried expression and couldn't help thinking, didn't all this seem too convenient? That he would be here, willing to work with me and go against her for a daylight ring? Or perhaps it wasn't and I was being too paranoid. Either way I had to take a chance, actually plan so I could win.

I took a breath, sitting back and letting my thoughts run lose; if I were in a third person point of view and reading this story what would I be doing right now? Which heated words would I be shouting at the protagonist?

Anna only had leverage because she knew what I most wanted, the trouble was, even if I had what she wanted it would be a battle of whether we would sacrifice to get the upper hand.

Perhaps it was time that I became more apathetic, letting some people die.

The thought twisted me up inside, but I pushed through it. I had to do something of the kind, but I had to make sure that the damage was at a minimal.

Another idea, contrary to the first and one that would make a lot of people angry for meddling, but they would need to be done.

"What are you thinking?" Ben asked.

Whether he was innocent or not was something that didn't matter much in the now. I had family and friends to protect and right now he would be a valuable tool in that.

"Oh crap," I heard him say. He stood but my glare was already planted on him, a scream left him and his hand flew to his head. I stood, trying to remember where we had stashed the hidden Vervain; there would be a jar near the door.

I let go of the spell and Ben was on his feet, headed for the door. Again I noticed I didn't need the words, I knew where the jar was and I made it move, sending it towards the ceiling.

It shattered, spraying water all throughout the room, some of which I splattered on Ben. Another scream left him, and his brief dithered was time enough for me to act. I grabbed the coffee table and sent it hurtling towards him. A woody crack filled air as the table was shattered by his vampiric strength. My hand pointed, another anger fuelled memory coming to the surface and again Ben was on the ground, this time in the foetal position.

"Please," he said as I was drawing in closer. "Please. I don't want to die."

I felt the spell slipping and for the first time I allowed myself to feel after my grandmother's death. I allowed myself to think that she was dead and to assign the blame to me because if I had stayed quiet maybe Anna wouldn't have killed her. I allowed myself to feel angry, at everything and everyone and I directed that anger into Ben.

The scream got louder, blood starting to seep out from his eyes, ears and nose, but it wasn't enough. I would need more. I took a long breath and hoped this would work and wouldn't kill me. I could move a jar, so it only made sense that I would be able to move a head.

"Motus," I said, my hand closing into a fist and jerking; Ben suddenly looked left with such force that a sickly crack echoed from his neck. The world drew fuzzy around the edges and I could feel blood trickling down my nose, but further than that, there were no adverse effects.

A relieved breath left me, perhaps this would work.

I didn't know how long it would take but it would be some time before he woke, up that time I could have him bound and sedate, able to milk him for all he was worthy. Anna would be the problem though, if she had some sort of attachment to Ben then she would come asking for him, then I would have to go about explaining why he was locked up in my…I hadn't even thought about it, but the house was rightful mine now, I could invite him in. Maybe Grams had left it to me and Bonnie.

"Not important, Micah," I muttered to myself. I found a chair and some cloths, soaked them in Vervain putting all these in the basement. It took some work but I was able to pull Ben down to the basement and manoeuvre him so that he was in the chair with his wrists and legs were bound on the chair. Chains would have been better, but Grams wasn't the sort of person who would keep chains lying around.

The next few acts were disgusting at best and they took mental fortitude to actually achieve. I grabbed a knife and an unused. I got my breath in order, even though our little scuffle had occurred more than fifteen minutes ago my heart still pounding beneath my chest, adrenaline fuelling my body and making every action rushed. I released his arms, cutting a vertical line and putting the jars beneath them his arm, the blood was already free flowing dropping into the jars.

I heard motion from upstairs, there was still time, but it was dangerous to leave him alone for a long time.

"Micah!" I heard Bonnie's voice say, and it sounded panicked. "Micah are you in hear?"

"Basement!" I shouted to her. "Bring some salt with you!"

"What?" she asked, but I could hear her footsteps in the room above. A minute later she was scaling down the stairs and entering the large basement. She stopped short, looking between me and Ben. "What happened?"

"I took him down," I said. "I think the bracelet Anna's making us search for is a binding agent for the Entombing spell. I want to use it as leverage, but for that to happen I need to nullify her threat."

"And that involves vampire blood?" Bonnie asked, confused.

I gave her a nod. "In the case that she kills anyone, this way they'll just turn into vampires."

"That's…crazy," Bonnie muttered. "Not to mention that she could just kill them twice. All of it would be rendered useless."

"But at least they would be on the Other Side."

"And that's better how?" Bonnie asked me.

I took a breath, I hadn't thought I would need to play this card so soon but she needed to be on my side. "Because I know the name of a witch that can bring people from the Other Side," I told her.

That certainly gave her pause. "You mean we could get Grams back?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Yes. But it would take a lot of work. A lot preparation on our part. We need to get powerful, know more about magic and the intricacies of spells."

"But it's doable?" Bonnie asked and I nodded. "How are we going to get the others to agree to this though?" she asked.

"Tell them that there's a large chance they might die if they don't drink the blood," I said. "We need to be as frank as possible."

"Dad in particular isn't going to like this," Bonnie muttered, but I could see it in her expression no would not be accepted as an answer. "Why did you need the salt?"

"I had an idea to make the Boundary spell easier," I told her. "I'm going to lead the spell like you did the Tracking spell. I think channelling you will be much easier than channelling my elemental affinity. I think you should have a candle too to make things easier."

We talked we got to work, six lit candles placed at points around the basement and a mound of salt placed a good distance away from Ben. I took Bonnie's hands in mine and opened myself up. I felt her first, then my element and in the periphery I could hear the crackling of her fire. She hadn't learnt the spell, but then I had the feeling that since I was leading the spell she would be compelled to speak the words.

I started and in the same moment I could hear her voice overlapping mine. I said the phrase once, drawing power from my emotions at first, drawing the line with their intensity but when they began to fade I knew I had to change, at first I reached for my element, trying to balance the power coming in and going out, but it strained me, every second that passed I could feel myself losing my grip on the spell. When it seemed I would lose the spell completely I found Bonnie's power. The difference was indescribable, it was as if Bonnie could feel when I needed the power and when to pause and allow me to flood it into the spell.

The circle was halfway done and it was moving quicker, the darkness hadn't edged close because now I could focus on one thing at a time. I would gather the power from Bonnie and when I was about to feed it into the line she would stop, probably gathering power from her element.

The sixth repeat of the phrase and the circle was three-quarters of the way done.

On the ninth the circle closed and we stopped.

I grinned. I'd completed my first boundary, but it was time to test if it had been done well. I stood, swallowed and took a step into the circle, a moment later I took a step out and smiled as the barrier didn't bar my path.

"We'll have to see if we can pull him out when his wounds close," I told Bonnie.

She looked at them and grimaced. "They already have, I think."

"Do the honours?"

She nodded and flicked her hand. The chair jerked towards us but the moment it hit the salt it stopped as though by a physical barrier.

I let out a small chuckle, wanting to jump up into the air in joy. I entered the circle and moved Ben into the centre of the circle, cutting his wrists again and letting his blood drip into the jar. I watched it and I could it already starting to heal.

"Can you get me some Vervain? I need to keep his wound from healing."

Bonnie nodded, but I noticed she looked a slight bit disgusted by my action, she scaled up the stairs. I took a few steps back and stood out of the circle, waiting until Bonnie returned. Another cut through his wrist—it was surprisingly getting easier each time that I did it—and dousing them with Vervain slowed down the healing, but the blood kept seeping out and into the jars.

"Now, the necklace," I said. "After which we'll need to split up. I'll go get it wherever it is and you can go feed people who you think might be targeted the Vervain."

Bonnie led the spell. A house, familiar and large flashed through my mind, then a room, it too large, a bed in the middle and an orderly appearance to it; and lastly darkness: The map revealed the Salvatore Boarding House.

"Damon," said Bonnie. "His comment." I gave her a nod. "Do we tell him that Anna's searching for the necklace?"

I shook my head. "For the moment we play things close to the chest. This could be our win and we need to move quickly. Damon could compromise that."

Bonnie was frowning. "If we fail at this…"

"We have a failsafe," I said. "We just need to make sure everything goes smoothly and quietly."

"I'll do my best," she said, wringing her hands together. "I guess I'll finally have to Caroline about everything that's going on."

"Tyler too. Anna used him once, she might be willing to use him again."

Bonnie dropped me off at the Salvatore abode. There wouldn't be anyone there and yet I was still antsy. I waved her off and walked in. I searched through the house, starting on the lower floors then progressively moving up. The room was Damon's, I guessed, and it was on the second floor. I systematically move through every small and dark compartment, going through his cupboard and chest of drawers, even going so far as under his bed.

Nothing.

I let out a breath, rubbing at my brow in frustration. There had to be a faster way of finding the necklace without having to search for it manually. I tried to remember the mental images and found nothing, the only thing I knew was that the place was dark. I returned to searching; it was in the room, nowhere else. I just had to find it.

It took an hour before I finally gave up, sitting on the ground and leaning against Damon's bed, my eyes closed and my mind thinking, 'What I wouldn't do for a Summoning charm right now.'

Could I do that? Maybe I could feel out the connection if I concentrated hard enough? I closed my eyes and opened myself out, reaching blindly around me in search of something whose existence I couldn't entirely be sure about. A few minutes spent doing this and I felt stupid.

What was something else I could do? Get Damon in the know? But that wouldn't work. He would believe his way was better than mine, which it might probably be, and wouldn't go with it.

I stood, looking around the room cataloguing all the places I had checked. Nothing stood out, no place—a sound broke that thought. My head jerked left and I noticed a compartment at the base of the chest of drawers slide open. I walked over and to my surprise the necklace was there.

I couldn't help the frown as I picked up the necklace, this close to it I could feel power resonating from it. I put away my momentary confusion and opened myself up to its power, the rush that filled me made my teeth ache; a large grin wrote itself across my features, with this thing in my hand I'm sure I could moving even Stefan without flinching.

Now to make the deal.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Ben pressed a button.

"Well looky here," said Anna's voice from the other side, filled with tinges of exasperation and amusement. "We're getting ballsy again. I had thought after my last display things would get smoother."

"If by you display you mean killing my grandmother, then I've got to admit you're horrible at reading people." The plan had been to go into this coolheaded, not showing any emotion, but from the very beginning she was playing on my emotions, reminding me that all the past could have been avoided. I took a breath, trying to clear my mind and focusing.

"No," said Anna. "I'm quite good at it. Which is why I've played this game the way I have." I heard a breath. "Right now I'm got a virtual army on my side, compelled so that they're open to my commands even with the Vervain they've doused themselves in." I hadn't expected that. "You live as long as I and every move becomes predictable."

"I doubt that," said Bonnie. "Right now, you're propping yourself up, making it so you're casting a larger shadow than the actual you. We're not buying it."

"Much as you've prepared," I said, taking it from Bonnie's pause. I felt calmer now, able to think clearer than my emotion fuelled self. "There are always factors you can't account for."

"Like the small fact that we know about the vampires in the Tomb," said Bonnie.

"And the other small fact that the Entombing spell is bound to the necklace, which we have."

"You can't open the Tomb without us and the necklace," said Bonnie.

"You're right on that count," said Anna. "I can't open the Tomb without you, but I think the both of you keep forgetting that I have a lot of people compelled, that I can end the lives of those around you by my inaction. So will you might bide time, mean I take a longer time opening that Tomb. I will be hurting the both of you in ways you couldn't imagine."

I looked at Bonnie, a lump stuck in my throat at what we were about to do. "We're not playing by your rules anymore," I said. "Do what you will."

"Fine," said Anna. "I say this again. This could all have been avoided."

She dropped the line.

"Well," said Ben. I appreciated that he had been quiet, but then again a word from him and I would have taken my anger out on the guy. "I get the sense you pissed her off."

"Break the phone," I told Bonnie. She didn't question the request, she flicked her hand and the phone was torn form Ben's grip and slammed into a wall. It smashed on impact.

We went back upstairs, the smell of sage still wafting through the upper room. I could feel that at the end of this the smell of sage would constantly cling on me with how often we used the spell.

"I have an idea," Bonnie and I said at the same time. I was younger, by six minutes, an unconsciously I kept quiet, waiting for Bonnie to say her idea first, she didn't disappoint.

"Everything about the device to find vampires points to Emily, right?" I nodded. "We can use her necklace to find it, and use a Tracking spell guided by the device to find all Anna. It's time we lodged a direct attack."

"Our plans coincide then," I said. "I want to find Emily's grimoire. She was friends with vampires," I said. "Protected them from being killed through use of powerful magic. I think getting our hands on her spells would do us a world of good."

"We'll have to split up," said Bonnie. "Work faster that way. Ensure damage is at a minimal."

I nodded, already working to get the supplies all together. Bonnie led the spell and this time it was stranger than anything we had ever attempted because what we were looking for was something abstract, we only knew their functions and nothing beyond that; three locations came into my mind: The first was in transit, a burly dark skinned man wearing a flannel shirt—this would be the device—and the second and third were in dark places I couldn't quite tell; but when we opened our eyes there were two locations unburnt by Bonnie's spell.

"I don't think we can find the moving object," said Bonnie. "I couldn't get a fix on it."

"We call dad? Maybe he's with them?"

Bonnie nodded. "Perhaps. What about those two locations?" she asked.

I could only shrug. "We'll have to look into both of them," I said. "Anything connected to Emily is a resource at this point. If we find her grimoire, then we monopolise anything regarding the Entombing spell. No one will be able to do anything without us."

"Grimoire first," said Bonnie. "Fist though we should protect Grams' grimoire," she said. "We've been leaving it in the house all this time but Anna's proved she can overcome the protection on the house."

"Another Boundary spell?"

Bonnie nodded, I was quite excited, more especially since we had shaved off a few minutes in completing the Boundary. But, in retrospect it probably would have been a good idea to move the book out of the living room, as it was, the grimoire was on the floor surrounded by a circle of salt. We shrugged it off and moved, and as Bonnie drove me to my location it hit me how much we needed a second car. There had been the idea of calling either our father or Elena to give the other one of us a ride, but to call them would mean the chance they not answer and I didn't think I would be able to take that, the clear knowledge that Anna had done something to them.

I got off at the cemetery and watched Bonnie leave, a pit of worry settled in my stomach because as she left I realised something. Anna only needed one of us to open the Tomb, what was to say she wouldn't kill one of us to get the other to comply. I shook my head, dispelling it of the thoughts. I got out a flashlight and pointed it forward, not that I needed it much as there was a soft silver light from the moon above; the resting place of the founders were at the far back of the cemetery, split and bordered up with rusted fences: The Maxwell plots were the first I came across, then there followed the Forbes, Fells, Gilberts, Lockwood and finally the Salvatores, though the last looked more like a crypt.

I'd seen this place in while in the tracking trance and the last sight had not been inside but around the crypt. I frowned, how would I find whatever I was looking for? Well, I thought, running a hand over my chin, I was looking for something underground wasn't I? It helped that earth was my elemental affinity because then I could Toph things out.

I didn't like it, but it had to be done. I took a breath and closed my eyes, opening myself up and hearing the buzz echoing around me, a miasma of flowing power that didn't move except when I allowed it to fill me up. I didn't allow it to move, instead I waded through it, stretching out as far as I could, wading through the miasma of power until I found nothing.

Exactly what I was looking for.

I didn't know why exactly Emily's grimoire would be at the Salvatore cemetery, but there was only one reasonable explanation for it being here. It had been buried with someone, and things that were buried were in rectangular cubes.

I envisioned a coffin in my mind, imagining a hand engulfing it and pushing it up; I gathered power from the ground beneath me and directed it into my spell.

"Motus," I said, the words tearing through the silence around. There was something else, a rumble and a dry explosion. I opened my eyes and quickly dove to the side a second before the coffin crashed into the ground, cracking open and a decayed body and worn book falling from the things.

I promptly lost my lunch.

There was no stench except that of the newly displaced earth, but through the mixture of my mess and the fact that I knew old bodies should have a smell to them, my stomach didn't settle even as I tried to calm myself. I tried the breathing exercising I had gotten quite good at doing but they were no good. Books weren't known for rolling and the book was not far from the body which had been in the coffin.

I didn't dare summon it less I lose myself and faint. I wiped my mouth, wishing there was water around me because my mouth tasted odd, and moved to get to my feet when I heard a crack.

My heart almost stopped, my head flying in the direction.

I saw a woman the brief sight of a woman, older than I, her hair greyed and her eyes veiny; she hissed and charged. My hand flicked out, anger directed towards her. She didn't stop, instead she tripped, inertia carrying her forward and causing her to slam into my chest. I lost the spell as barbs of pain erupted from chest. I lost my lung full of oxygen and had the sensation of being slammed hard against the ground.

The world was shaky, my head pounding and as I breathed there were still brief flashes of pain in my chest. The woman was on top of me, her fangs bared and I feared she would bite me. I was terrified, my mind sticking to that one emotion and unable to find the required anger. Her downward descent began but it was interrupted by three loud bangs, of which coincided with a hiss from the woman.

She was on her feet, looking towards the direction she had come from before she bolted. My breathing was hard, edges of darkness drawing closer and sounds just at the edge of my vision, hurried footsteps and more gunshots. I looked in the direction and there were four people, all of them carrying guns and only one of whom carrying and object he kept looking at.

There was a shriek, loud and in agony. My head darted in the direction and I saw the woman on the ground, her hands attempting to dig into her back.

"We have to take her down!" I heard shouted, the voice belonging to Mr Lockwood. "Go check on the person she just attacked, I'll do it!"

I heard running, then standing over me was Claude. "Micah?" he said, confused. "What are? Never mind. We have to get you—" He was cut short by another scream, this one not belonging to the woman but instead to a man.

A sickly crack echoed.

I turned to look and golden glow caught my eye. I looked up and for the first time realised the sight of the moon above us. I looked again and this time there were claws.

Mr Lockwood was turning.

Adrenaline filled me and my mind worked quickly, a wolf who had turned for the first time would go on a rampage. I looked at Claude who was staring at the scene, a small distance away was Dianna and Troy Maxwell, they too were transfixed.

"Mr Bishop," I said and Claude looked at me, surprised because in all the time I had known him I had never called him as such. "You have to get out of here. It's very dangerous," I said, but it was as if I were talking to a wall. A particular scream had erupted from Mr Lockwood and with it a sickly crack; a moment later there was a deep raw.

I heard the cocking of a gun. "We have to take him down," I heard Dianna say. "He might be turning into one of them."

"No," I said, but my voice was a shaking whisper. "NO!" I said, louder, garnering their attention. He couldn't die like this, because of his curse. I couldn't let a supernatural die if they were innocent. "He's not a vampire."

"What is he?" asked Claude. "What's going on?"

"I need to work quickly," I said. With purpose my mind began to work at it should, all fear was leaving me. I had to save Mr Lockwood. "I'm about to do something unbelievable," I said. "Please bear with me."

I really wished I had thought to bring the necklace, maybe with its ties to my family it would be easier to channel, but I knew this would work because I had no other choice. When this was done, if I didn't have a working barrier by the time the transformation was done, I would be dead and so would the people around me.

I reached into the power of the earth, grasping it with a firm hand and directing it. I imagined a rigid line drawn on the ground, one that started and ended in the same place; a circle that would keep the man in.

The spell began, words leaving me with force. I juggled, keeping the form of the circle, keeping the inflow and outflow of power, and kept myself repeating the iterations of the latin phrase. I took in power, between iterations and directed it and flooding it into my imagines circle. Once, twice, thrice and it started, the headache and the coming darkness, but at the edge of my focus I could hear Mr Lockwood disappearing and the beast taking his place; deep growls and intense roars.

I heard another cocking of a weapon but I didn't allow it to make me lose focus. Nine iterations and I still wasn't done. Twelve and the circle was three-quarters of the ways done. I let out a relieved breath on the eighteenth iteration as I felt the circle close; my legs gave out on me and as I opened my eyes it was to a wolf that lunged at me.

The sound of gunfire filled the air, the weapon having enough force that the lunging animal was shoved back, but the wolf was up and instance later, lunging in the direction of the gun.

It stopped short, stopped by something. My spell. I looked down and there was a thin line drawn on the ground.

The wolf tried again but it didn't get through, stopped by my boundary.

"What the hell just happened?" I heard Troy ask. I turned and he was looking at me, blue eyes wide and mouth agape, the same expression was on his sister.

"What I wouldn't do for a sudden disappearance," I muttered.

"Then this is your lucky day, love," I heard a distinct English accent say. All of us turned, but that was exactly what he'd wanted us to do. Suddenly arms grasped me and there was the sensation of rushing wind; it didn't stop until I found myself in front of my grandmother's house.

Damon was already waiting for us and he had in his hands Emily's grimoire.

"Haven't seen this in a while," he muttered looking the thing over. I was placed on the ground, and for the first time allowed to see my saviour.

"Enzo."

"In the flesh," the man said. "You're Micah, then?" I gave a nod. "I hear I owe my thanks to you."

"It's really not a problem," I said.

"Now that that's done, care to tell me what that all was about?" asked Damon.

"You can come in," I said, the last words before all my strength left me and I lost consciousness.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

I was awoken by a cold splash of water. I jerked awake, breathing in deeply and feeling as though I had drowned. I coughed, getting to my feet and glaring at the smirking man who stood above me.

The miniscule amount of anger I had at the act was directed towards him. He flinched, moving back a few steps and pouting.

"That was unnecessary," he said, rubbing at his brow.

"So was the water," I muttered.

"Your sister just called. I don't know why but he doesn't seem to trust me, she thinks I might have killed you. You here that, Bon-Bon," he said. "He speaks therefore he's still alive."

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked from somewhere. "I went to pick you up at the cemetery and there was major police activity."

"Something we'd all like to know," said Damon.

"Not all of us," Enzo said, striding in. "I'm more curious about the vampire in the basement. I don't know why, but I'm sensitive about such things."

"Who's that?" asked Bonnie.

"That would be Enzo," I said. I sighed, running a hand at my brow. "We're in major trouble, sis. The game's changed. It's no longer Anna we have to worry about, but the council too. I was forced to build a boundary in front of them."

"Why would you do that?" Bonnie asked.

"Mr Lockwood killed and activated his werewolf curse," I said.

"Of course they exist," muttered Enzo. "I expect I'll be hearing about zombies next."

"The Lockwoods are werewolves?" asked Bonnie. "When did you find this out?"

"I've always known," I said. "But dad said Mr Lockwood was hands off, so it was never something to worry about. But then he was hunting some vampire that Anna turned and he killed her. I contained him, but his fellow hunters were saw me do it."

"This is bad," said Bonnie. "Have you told…" she stopped and I could guess what she had been about to say. Had I told dad? But if I had told dad then it would make me more emotional, something with both needed not to do. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Please tell me you got what we wanted."

"I got the grimoire," I said. "Damon knows about it." How did I tell her that as of yet he didn't know that we had stolen the necklace.

"Search through it, anything that can hide us for the time being. We'll have to stretch your new found aptitude for boundaries and work on a larger scale. I'll tell you what I found when I get there."

She hung up.

"Bonnie is the other one," said Enzo. "The girl?"

Damon nodded. "She'll be the stronger one of the two," he said. "Don't piss her off, trust me." I saw a small wince but it happened so quickly I might have been imagining it. "Okay, little witch. Tell me what you and wonder twin there are planning on the Anna front?"

"We've got it sorted," I said, taking to my feet and scanning the room for the grimoire. I made my way towards it. Damon beat me there, but the moment he took it winced, dropping it to the floor.

Had I done that?

It didn't matter. I cleared the distance and took the book, it was thicker Grams' and filled with worn pages. I ran through the spells and found myself impressed. Emily had a neatly organised mind and this was reflected in her grimoire; curses, links, boundaries and the enchantment of objects.

The last pages were those of interest in my case, I searched in particular for daylight rings. I wasn't disappointed.

"Enzo," I said, surprising the man who had been poking at the line of salt keeping the Grams' grimoire from being touched. "How rich are you?"

Enzo frowned. "Begging your pardon?"

"How rich are you?"

"I had quite the fortune before I was captured," Enzo answered. "But the times have changed and inflation, I'm told, has sky rocketed. It might not be what it was before. Why?"

"I'm just curious how much you'd pay to get a daylight ring," I said. I had wanted to be rich at the end of all this, that part of me still hadn't abated. It also helped believing there was a light at the end of this tunnel, focusing on the future and affirming it to myself that I would make it through.

"Damon, lend me a few thousand dollars," Enzo said.

"Sure," Damon said without much thought in the matter. "How much exactly?"

"Fifty-thousand," I said, looking over the creation of an enchanted object. "I don't know how much Lapis Lazuli is worth but I want to be able to buy the stuff and still have enough to live comfortably."

"How devious of you," Damon muttered. "Holding a poor vampire ransom for wanting some sun."

I only shrugged. The spell looked complicated, requiring a few ingredients but overall it was something I thought I could achieve given time. Focus on the now, Micah, I thought. Bonnie had wanted us hidden; my first impulse were boundaries. I looked over them and didn't find anything special, Emily had been like grams in that her Boundary spells hadn't had much imagination from my perspective. There was nothing there. I turned to links before I remembered something, I had been too caught up on this new grimoire that I had forgotten the spell Grams had cast when we had been working on the garden.

I walked over to the small circle, said a spell and broke it and reached for the grimoire. I quickly flipped through it until I found the Spell of Deterrence. It required a lot of power, but between Bonnie, the necklace and me, it was achievable. We'd just have to channel power for the necklace and not the any element, all things considered that might be too much.

I went to the couch and sat, waiting and thinking, watching the room for the first time. Damon was pacing, at times biting his fingers and taking quick glances at Enzo, for his part Enzo seemed to be dutifully ignoring Damon, taking in what wasn't at all interesting room, save that there were splinters of what had once been a table.

"Are you guys fighting?" I asked, looking between them.

Damon spared me a look, saying nothing before he returned to his pacing. Enzo was hard to read. I might have thought the way he looked at Damon sexual, but then that was my hormone filled mind warping aspects and I might have shipped them in the past. But looking deeper into his expression there was a deep hurt which tried its best to remain hidden. He too didn't say anything.

"He's sorry," I said. Enzo frowned. Damon stopped. "Beside his brother you're the only person he actually likes. What he did hurt him deeply. I think he changed after that."

Damon took a breath. "I need to go and check on something," he said and then he was gone, the thud of the door the only thing

"That's a part of your witch power, then?" Enzo asked. "You can read people?"

"No," I answered. I returned to Emily's, searching for any nifty curses. I paged through them, skimming until I came across a pervasion of sorts of the Motion Spell. The incantation was simple enough, _Vatos_, but it required a straight line to its target and at first there was a lot of collateral damage to expect from the spell at first.

"About the vampire in the basement, then," said Enzo after he had descended into silence. "What's his deal?"

"Did Damon fill you in on the situation?" Enzo shook his head. "Long story short, there's a girl name Anna who wanted me or my sister to do some spells for her; the approach is lacklustre at best. She killed my grandmother. The guy in there was turned by her. He asked for my help, he wants a ring, but until the girl is neutralised I don't trust him."

"So you locked him in your basement?"

I nodded. "It's for his own good, too. If he doesn't kill any townspeople, then I can defend him if the hunters try and kill him. But if he were really playing me, then I doubt I'd have the strength of will to be able to do that."

Enzo hummed, nodding his head. "Tell me about this girl, Anna."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "I'm in your debt. I figure me helping you out will absolve me of that."

"She's calculating, so far she's been a few steps ahead of us. I think she might have set things up before she made her first move, or she moved quickly after they first failed to apprehend me. Her first move was compelling people. Who, I'm not entirely sure, but she's set up a network of people open to her commands even after ingesting Vervain."

"The town has access to Vervain then?"

I nodded. "I'm the supply, not that people know that of course. They think it's my father." I felt a pang at the reminder of the man, but I pushed it back, focusing on the present. "I think they've gotten it into the town's water supply, but I can't be sure of that."

Enzo was frowning, his eyes in thought. "Hold what she wants for ransom," he said. "Simplest bet. Do you know what she wants?"

"Yes. The problem is, Damon wants the same thing. We can't hold it off indefinitely because doing so would mean getting on Damon's bad side, and frankly, Damon scares me a lot more than Anna." My words were true, even with how large a threat Anna was at least she worked with some logic behind every one of her moves. Damon would be unrestrained, killing and ensuring the deaths of those around me.

"Makes it tricky," said Enzo. "What does she want though, do you know?"

"Friends locked in some magical tomb," I said.

Enzo frowned. "You took down one vampire easily enough. What's stopping you from taking Damon?"

I looked at Enzo, taking him in. "This is about revenge isn't it? You're still hurt about him abandoning you?"

"My feelings are not important. What is important is how far you're willing to go to protect those you love." There was something in those words, something I might have been missing or forgotten.

"I'd do anything," I said.

"Then tell me how we're going to take down Stefan Salvatore," he said with too much cheer in those words.

We'd just started planning when Bonnie came in, breathing hard. She stopped only for a moment, sparing Enzo a glance before she looked outside. "I was followed," she said. "Well, I don't think I was being followed so much as they coming to investigate. They tried to hail me down but I didn't stop."

"I found a spell that might hide us," I said. "I'm just wondering if we'll have the time to do it."

Bonnie sighed. "What can we do?"

I stayed quiet and thought, running my head over possible avenues. If we fought then we would be presenting ourselves as a threat. The council would fight back and I was no longer confident if we would be able to take them.

"We do nothing," I said. "We don't fight, but we prepare for the chance that they might kill us."

"How do we do that?" Bonnie asked. I hated the idea, but right now it was all we could do. I opened Emily's grimoire at the last of the linking spells, a section I had noticed was more for protection. I turned the grimoire over. Bonnie read it. "It could work."

We worked quickly, thankful that Enzo was willing to help or the process would have taken longer. In a matter of second the vampire had drawn out two large circles connected by a rigid line. Bonnie said the Flame spell, reworking the connection so that the fire drew power from the salt.

"Here's the deal," said Enzo, with a particular look at Ben. "I'm older and thus stronger. This can be done with you willingly or with your neck snapped. You decide."

"I'm willing," said Ben.

I said the spell and waved my hand, the circle around him broke. Ben slowly walked from his prison and into one of the circles, the fire parted enough that he was able to enter. We took our position in the other circle, sitting staring at each other and the necklace in my left hand. Bonnie lead and the moment I opened myself up I felt a burst of power flow through me towards Bonnie and then back again; the fire flared up, sending Enzo stumbling back.

Bonnie started.

I felt it, a thin thread appearing between myself and Ben. At first it was thin and frail, but as we got lost in the tempo of the spell, the rhythm carrying us forward, it got stronger, and I could feel power moving back and forth between Ben and me.

It must have been three iterations before the spell was done, at the same time that Enzo said, "There's a knock from upstairs."

My heart started up a notch. "Worst case scenario they take us in," I said. "Dad's still a factor, I'm sure he'd bring light on _everything _making them dealing with us a messy situation. Something they've been dutifully trying to achieve with the whole cover up aspect of this."

Bonnie nodded, but she was frowning, a tired look already drawn across her features. Surprisingly I didn't feel the same way, much though I was scared, I also felt exhilarated. The council now knew about magic on a large scale, people would rebel, they would be prejudiced against my kind but there would be others out there that would be open to living together. I couldn't help but seeing this as a stepping stone, one I could use to make the entire town aware about the supernatural, make Mystic Falls a haven of sorts. I also knew though, that before this could come along, there would be wars.

We scaled up the basement stairs, Enzo staying to watch Ben and keeping his ear out for trouble. Bonnie walked up to the door and opened; Claude stood on the other side, beside him was another deputy, Bradlow, a skinny man with dark skin and curly hair. Both of them looked at us with grim expressions, though I noted some confusion from Claude's eyes; they both were trying to look into the house as subtly as they could.

"Claude," said Bonnie. "David."

"Hello, Bonnie," said Claude. "I wonder if we might come in?"

"With the whole vampire mess inviting anyone in seems like a whole lot of trouble," I said, not beating around the bush. Claude knew that I knew, and I'd known from the beginning that he knew, there was really no reason to draw things out. I probably should have told Bonnie this beforehand because for the first time I saw momentarily lose her footing, spare me a wide-eyed glance before quickly facing the two men.

"I don't think you have to worry about that," muttered David Bradlow. "Your friends with the beasts aren't you."

Statement, not question and it was accusatory.

"I'm a real friendly person," I said. Bonnie and Claude snorted. "And who I make friends with, I believe, is no one's concern but mine."

"Your friend are killers," David said, without missing a beat.

"I'm sure they're not," I said. Was I really friends with any vampires though? Damon was an ally of sorts, we had the same goal for the time being. Enzo too for that matter because I had saved him and he wanted revenge for being abandoned or something to that effect. Stefan was more Elena's deal. He was working to save my family from Anna, but we had never hung out and a relationship never allowed to exist. Vicki I still didn't like. Mr Fell was too old for he and me to have anything in common.

"They're—" David started, his tone of exasperation. But Claude gestured from him to stop.

"We're not here for that," he said. "Though you telling us about those vampires that took you from the graveyard would save us a lot of time." I said nothing. "We're more interested in what you did back there, or for that matter what happened to Mayor Lockwood."

"I'd like to speak to Sheriff Forbes regarding that," I said. It wasn't her daughter that was a supernatural creature, but I hoped he might have a little more sympathy, and my father had mentioned he would trust her about everything that was going on. Maybe she would be more open.

"Sheriff Forbes is a busy woman," said Claude. "You'd be doing her a favour telling us this. You'd be doing us a favour. Whatever this mayor is, its feral and we fear the moment it gets loose it will destroy the town. I can't predict the votes of the others, but the way its looking we're going to have to put him down."

"I feel like you're playing me," I said.

"I was the only one my brother could talk to about the two of you," said Claude. I felt a pang, a hollowness I had always felt suddenly made real. A boy flashed through my mind and the emptiness I had felt when he'd left with no explanation, no goodbye. "He told me about your…peculiarities. I am playing you," he said. "But that doesn't mean it's any less effective. Mayor Lockwood could die without your help, without you telling us what he is or his level of danger."

"He's a werewolf," I said. "The circle should keep him in place until I break it, but he won't be able to hurt anyone and when the full-moon fades, he'll return to normal."

David muttered something I didn't quite hear, I'd have to ask Enzo about that.

"Threat level?" asked Claude.

"Dangerous," I said. "Which goes without saying. But only on a night of the full-moon."

"Now about you, what you did back there—"

"Is not up for discussion," said Bonnie. I got the sense she thought I had been about to tell them. I wasn't that stupid, especially after reading the news about the witch burnings. "We told you about the mayor, now what you do with is up to you. But I feel you should be reminded, if the mayor of a town dies, it can't be easily buried."

Nor would I allow it to be buried. Killing the mayor for being nothing more than a wolf was not something I could stand for. It was something I felt would make me cynical to the world and to the human race as a whole. This wasn't something I could change though, especially since supernatural creatures were so dangerous. Right now, I couldn't say for certain whether or not Damon and Enzo had killed a few people making their way back here. I didn't have any sympathy for the doctor who had held him captive but the collateral was something I couldn't take.

Claude sighed. "I get the feeling the two of you have been in the thick of it for a very long time," he said. "I know you might be scared, you might not know who to trust. But you can trust me. Micah, I expect you to know that at least."

He was right. There was history between us, a history that had showed me that he was worth trusting. But there was a difference between then and now; then, Chris had been involved, and Claude had more reason to protect him than me, now it was my sister, and protecting her was paramount.

I shook my head. "If there's nothing else. I almost died. I'm tired."

Claude nodded and with a gesture, he and David left. Enzo appeared a second later. "One of them is going to stick around," he said, keeping clear of the door. "Scout for any vampire that comes into the house."

"Backdoor," Bonnie said.

"And windows. Its ineffective at best," I put in.

"But at the moment they think we don't know about their plans. Not to mention if they have the device."

I shook my head at that. "If they had the device they would have known we had vampires in the house, and if I remember correctly Mr Lockwood had it. There's no way anyone would be willing to get in that circle with him."

"We need that device," said Bonnie. "We get it then we have Anna."

"How do you expect us to get through the police?" I asked. We were powerful, true, but there were still limits to our abilities.

She looked at Enzo. "Are you willing to help us?"

"Your brother did save my life," he said. "So long as I don't get killed I'm up for it."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

I took a breath and calmed myself, taking a glance at my phone. The backlight was dulled enough that the light wouldn't gather much attention, but the time was clear enough. Two minutes before eleven. Two more minutes before we began our plan to get the device; another minute before Enzo and Bonnie had to arrive. I put the phone back in my pocket. It didn't make sense to keep checking it over, the phone would buzz when it was time to act.

I resumed my seating, running over the plan one more time. Simple enough. Enzo would be the distraction, taking much of the fire while Bonnie and I put all the people around us to sleep. We hadn't had much practice with the required spell, but all things considered it was much simpler than building a boundary or finding someone through a tracking spell and convoluted connections; the annoying part about the spell was that it needed line of sight and a close distance.

The graveyard was different then when I had left. I could still hear the snarls and growls from Mr Lockwood, but there were also a lot of lights in the area. People with shotguns and pistols walking around and many of them muttering with words I couldn't hear from my distance. I took another glance, watching as the people, mainly deputies, and felt an amount of apprehension. This was entirely against what I believed in. I wanted to be as far away as I could from the action and yet here I was, about to take out fully trained adults with guns.

My phone buzzed and I was at attention, getting to my feet and taking a glance at the closest people on my side. Enzo made his move. I don't know what it was but it heralded gunfire. I looked over my tree, two fingers pointed towards a woman who was firing wildly and said the spell.

"Somnus."

I heard a soft hiss pass through the air and a second later the woman slumped. Her partner turned in my direction. I ducked behind my tree and it was a second later that I heard gunfire and the sound of splintering wood. Four shots before it stopped and a long silence stretched on.

I didn't want to check though.

There was shouting I couldn't quite make out and footsteps all around me. I pushed myself and glanced out from behind my tree and saw four figures on the ground, not moving besides a slight rise and fall. I heard footsteps on my left and turned, a man with brown hair, not holding a handgun but instead and crossbow.

He fired.

"Vatos," I said, some part of me must have realised I couldn't stop the projectile and hence the spell. It was like a massive rush of wind, taking and pushing everything back. It started with the projectile, stirring up rock and stray debris before hauling the man off his feet and slamming him into a tree.

There were more shouts and the steps were converging my way.

I ran, changing positions and looking out for anyone that might get in my way. I saw a man who had been in the process of reloading. He heard my steps, his head jerking up but I couldn't let him see me. I pointed, saying the spell and he slumped before he could see me, or at least I thought.

Enzo appeared beside me, a second later Bonnie was entering from her hiding place. "One of the guys managed to call for backup before I could put him to sleep," said Bonnie in between breaths.

"We'll have to make this quick then," said Enzo. "Which of you is leaving first?" he asked.

"Micah," said Bonnie. "Get preparations underway. I'll look for the device."

I was about to fight the point but Bonnie was already striding forward and the wolf striding back, whining as it kept its eyes only on her. I gave a nod to Enzo and as the man picked me up I had the strongest feeling that I weighed nothing to him; this feeling got stronger as he broke into a full run. The wind swept around us with enough for that breathing was hard, the scenery pass by me in a blinding pace so much so that I couldn't see anything. Five minutes went with me not seeing anything before I found myself on the ground and Enzo already having disappeared.

Setting up at this stage really meant lighting the candles and setting up a new map; the lines were already drawn and the candles already set in place. I reached for the copy of the town's map and set it in place. Breaking the lines of my boundaries was starting to become second nature, the exercise not using as much power than it had when I had first broken a line through Gram's boundary, but the again the power fuelling her boundary must have been of a higher notch than mine.

I took the necklace, opened myself to its power and let it fill me up. The itch beneath my skin was getting bearable as I got accustomed to the power, the ache in my teeth still was uncomfortable but it too was bearable. This was a small taste of what true power was like and I could feel myself yearning for more. I was on the route to getting powerful but it still wasn't fast enough. I needed to be able to stand alone from my sister, right now it was clear that we worked well as a unit, but what would happened if one of us was taken away.

The door opened and I felt the impulse to hide the necklace, fearing it was Damon. Instead Bonnie and Enzo walked in and she was wearing a particular smirk. She showed me a circular device that at first looked like a watch, but when she got close enough and handed it over, I opened it and instead resembled a compass, its point fixed deftly on Enzo.

We got into the triangle and the flames flared higher as we sat. The necklace was in my right hand, closed and Bonnie's hand over it, and the compass was in Bonnie's right hand my left over it. She led the spells and we began.

_Enzo. Standing. Watching. His arms were crossed and his expression was of deep consternation. Turning slightly I could see myself and Bonnie, our eyes were open but they had taken on a white quality to them, our mouths muttering in silent words. _

_Ben. Pacing. He too was muttering, fear across his features and at times he would punch against something unseen, at those times there was a small shifting from the rigid lines of salt beneath him, though he did not notice. _

_Damon. He paced in the dark, forestry surrounding him. _

_Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness._

_Anna. Sitting. Her arms crossed and staring at something. Someone. The image turned a little and I saw my father, Jeremy and Elena. Anna turned, looking up as though directly at us, she grinned, got to her feet and walked the small distance between her and my father. My dad didn't move, though there was blood on him but no wounds. He only kept staring forward even as the girl took her head and snapped his neck. _

A scream tore through me and the confines of the triangle blew apart pushing everything back. I came to the world to see a large flame towering from the candles which still stood in place. My scream matched Bonnies and I was filled with anger, so much anger that I wanted to kill.

How had she known we were tracking her? Could she feel the connection, were we that sloppy or had she guessed what we would do? It didn't matter. She had killed my grandmother, kidnapped my best friend, and now she had snapped my father's neck.

I looked down and could see her position. I didn't know the place exactly but it was one of the many secluded residences at the edge of town, the woman who lived there was supposedly a hermit.

Bonnie and I were of like mind because we were moving. The car keys jumped into her hand and the door opened all without a word on our part. The sky was still dark, the moon still shining its eerie silver light and there was a nippy bite to the air. A police car, unhidden, sat just at the edge of our property, and I could see a cop inside.

I pointed, saying the word and the man's head fell forward.

I got into the car as Bonnie started, saying nothing as the back door closed and Enzo appeared in the seat behind. My mind was running over all the ways I could bring Anna pain. All the pays I could ensure that pain lasted. I didn't want it to end quickly. I wanted her to suffer as long as we would suffer. I wanted to her to succumb to depression but be unable to kill herself and through it all I wanted to her to know that it was all her fault for messing with my family.

Bonnie drove quite fast and in minutes we were barrelling out of town then turning into a dirt road. Bonnie didn't slow, even as the car's suspension took some beating from the usually uncharted road. I saw a flash of something at a turn and I pointed my fingers, saying the spell before we passed. I don't know if I hit a person or not, but Enzo didn't move to take care of the person so I assumed so.

We came to a grinding stop in front of the house and the three of us were out in a matter of moments. We started forward, the door to the house bursting off its hinges at what I thought might have been my instruction. There was no time subtlety. She had to feel pain. Bonnie still had the compass and in my grasp was the necklace. She muttered something under her breath, not losing stride, and turned left.

I followed and was greeted by a sight I didn't quite like.

Elena, Jeremy and my father were all sitting, fastened in chairs and bindings around their mouths; my father's form was slumped, a purple bruise at his neck while the Gilbert siblings both had men pointing guns at their heads. Anna stood behind the scene, her eyes on us. The room was on the small side, looking as though it had been recently cleared and two exits, one of which we stood behind and the other to our right.

"You got her far quicker than I expected," she said, her tone equal and measured. "Good thing too, I was worried I'd have to move soon. Keep away from those pesky hunters. I see you brought the necklace," she said. "Good. If you could just hand that over this entire mess would be over and your friends won't need to be killed."

"You saw fit to kill our father, though," Bonnie said, her voice a chilling anger.

Anna shrugged. "I needed to hurt you. Ensure you didn't think going against me was a good idea," she said, as though she were talking about something as innocent as the weather.

Anger.

Directed anger.

She clutched her head and there was the sound of a shot. Jeremy's chair fell over, his head hitting the floor with crack. Elena screamed through her gag. Bonnie flicked her hand and the man behind Elena was pushed of the ground and slammed into the wall behind him. Anna tried to make a run for it but she was intercepted my Enzo, the fight was quick and I didn't get most of but the ending was Enzo being thrown through the air.

Anna tried to run again. I got a firm grip of her and pulled, pushing her towards a wall. She hit it with enough force that there was a snap, an arm she had been trying to brace her fall with. Enzo was on his feet, delivering a punch as Anna tried to stand. It was with enough force that her jaw unhinged only to immediately get back in place. I noted the shock on Enzo's features.

Anna punched, catching Enzo in the stomach, and quickly brought her entwined hands up and under the man's chin. Enzo was lifted off the ground, spun one, twice then landed head first with a vicious crack.

"Incendia!"

The vampire was not allowed a moment to savour her victory as she was blasted off the ground by the sudden appearance of a burst of flame. I acted, striding forward and directing the anger I felt on Jeremy's expense towards her. She screamed and within moments there was blood coming from her ears, nose and eyes. I reached for power from the necklace, and imagined the motion.

"Motus," I said and her head snapped to the left with a vicious crack. Fuelled by momentum I didn't stop, I flicked a hand and Enzo's slumped body was thrown aside. I reached deeper in the power of the necklace, letting it fill me up before I directed the power in an object my mind was finding rapid ease in conjuring. The power was such that after one iteration the full circle was done. When I came too, a thin line had been carved out on the floor.

The next few hours were tense. The two men had woken up some time ago only to be put to sleep soon after. Elena sat huddled in a corner, Jeremy in her arms and the girl was softly muttering to her brother to come back. Not too far off, the same scene repeated itself with Bonnie as she cradled our father, whose bruise had now disappeared. I was standing, watching both scenes with a sense of detachment.

I knew what I was supposed to feel and if I reached I could almost feel the dull throb at the edge of my subconscious. I was surprised that my mind still worked. I was surprised that even now my brain was constructing intricate lines, making rational deductions in a manner I found highly cold. My father would return to life, my mind said, stating this as fact. Jeremy would return back to life. I didn't need to be worried.

In fact, I wasn't.

The realisation was a hammer to my psyche. I lost myself in wonder. What did that mean? Was I already cracking? Losing myself to the craziness of this world? Even if these things were happening to me, would I know? Would I be able to differentiate myself to from the before and after of these defining events?

I took a long breath and let it out. I repeated the process. Getting myself into a rhythm which was easy to keep.

Anna was handled. She still had her pawns but at least now she was with us, wrapped tight in a circle and unable to escape except through the help of a witch. There was still the Tomb and Damon's interest in it. It wasn't a good idea opening something with that many vampires. All of them hungry and liable to attack. Not opening the Tomb though would mean Damon as an enemy and my words to Enzo were still true, I feared Damon. But now things were different.

I had a vampire whose goals coincided with mine and right now we need a pre-emptive attack. Damon would find out about the missing necklace and trace I back to us, then we would have to expect a lot of people to die, and not just people I or Bonnie cared about but people in general.

I should have felt bad about this but I didn't.

I heard a large intake of breath. All of us turned, Bonnie and Elena momentarily facing Enzo before they returned to their various subjects.

"What happened?" the man muttered, his hand running at the back of his neck.

"We managed to subdue and bind her," I said. "It's time we went after Damon. You are for it?"

I think in that moment I might have become Enzo's favourite person.


	21. Chapter 21

Interlude: Damon Salvatore

It was a lie. Needing to get out of the house had been a lie that he doubted anyone had believed. Especially that damned clairsentient which by the name of Micah Bennett. Damon took one long draw of air, running a hand through his hair and fighting the surges of emotion at the pit of his stomach.

Was he not supposed to feel better? Was it not supposed to make a difference now that he'd gone back to that hellhole and saved his friend? Then why did he feel even worse? Why was it that now more than ever did he feel guilt?

Damon took another long breath. Starting at a pace and thinking over the last few days. Coming back to Mystic Falls was like salt rubbed into wounds. Every time he was here he had to think of all the mistakes which had happened in this town, the people he'd killed when his emotions had overwhelmed him, the people he had killed for petty reasons. One of them being…

He didn't let the thought enter his mind. If he did there he would have a reason to feel like this, then he might get dangerously close to flicking the switch and go through that dull existence of being without humanity. The route itself wasn't so bad, but it was coming out at the end of the tunnel that worried him. He shook his head. Flicking the switch was not something he wanted to do soon, which meant he had to find another way to decrease the intensity of the unwanted emotions.

Redirection, he thought, and he moved his mind on his goals for the future, cataloguing them with their priority levels: The Council. Anna. The Tomb.

If Zach's notes on the workings of Mystic Falls were to be believed then there were to factions. Two councils. The Founder's Council, which headed many of the crusades on vampires, and the Town Council which were minions in a respect. They knew about the existence of vampires and they held in hunting them, but ultimately decisions were made by the Founder's Council.

Since that little Bennett had outed himself he would be in their sights. They would either hunt him or keep him caged, more especially since they'd saved him. In their eyes he was in league with vampires and thus evil beyond doubt. Either of the council's acts would be in contravention with his plans. They would actively make it harder for him to open the Tomb.

Anna had had the right plan in mind, Damon thought. She'd flooded the town with vampires. Keeping them from looking for her explicitly, but that plan failed on a few counts. Namely, vampires were stock characters, the council would not feel any sympathy for the rogue vampire. No, the problem had to be taken to them directly. He needed to make sure that they couldn't act on their impulse to kill vampires.

The vampire grinned as a particular idea hit him.

Salvatore. Lockwood. Forbes. Gilbert. Maxwell. Fell.

Luckily they all had children.

The next part a little trickier but if anything Damon was old, and with that age was experience. He snuck into the hospital, moving through the shadows, keeping a deft enough speed that he would be a smudge across any surveillance. He got himself a few syringes and made his way outside, finding a dark corner because the next part was not painful as such, but it was gruelling.

Blood was power. Every time a vampire drank human blood they would be filled with strength and invigoration, and to give it away meant giving away some of that power. Their blood could heal, an aspect that had been heavily looked into at Whitmore during his Augustine days, and it could transform. But to give away that part of oneself was a big deal, which was the reason not many vampires turned humans lightly.

To others it would mean nothing, but to him, Damon felt a pit of worry before he pushed it all back. Shoving it into a deep and dark hole from which it would have a hard time escaping. He drew his blood, filling five syringes and putting them in his pocket.

Damon didn't pause, finding his momentum and already confident that his plan would pan out. He pushed out with his mind as he walked, surrounding himself in a field of undirected apprehension and anxiety, those who had Vervain in their systems would feel nothing, but those who weren't, they would be the target. He made quick work in finding them, compelling the poor saps to further his goals.

Now all he had to do was let the dominoes roll.

The next was Anna. She would be more of a problem. The girl was stronger and faster, smarter than anything Damon had had to deal with in a long time, but then again the only thing he'd had to deal with for some time was Stefan. Perhaps a Tracking spell would do? Or the answer was calling Anna out? If they tried to open the Tomb, then Anna would come running, wanting to get Pearl.

Then he would have the chance to avenge a Bennett witch's death.

Damon grinned. He would also get to see Katherine again.

Perhaps it was time to show the Bennetts their family talisman. It was risky, but he made good time, feeling a sense of exhilaration at the night's activity. He entered the house and frowned. Vampire's had super senses, true, but they couldn't scent subtle smells. But the sage clinging to the air was definitely not subtle, nor was the fact that it made a straight line to his room.

He looked in the compartment and it was gone and he knew who took it, that damned clairsentient.

Rage filled him. Bubbled within him. He let it fill him up, drive him forward and give him purpose.

Maybe Anna had had the right idea in her approach.

But the obvious problem: The witch would know.

How had Anna tackled that particular problem, for that matter, how had she known. It didn't matter. He got his phone out and called.

"Damon," said Enzo, his voice a bored drawl Damon couldn't quite read. "You left in quite a hurry. Done with whatever you were doing?"

Damon hummed in agreement. "You aren't still with the witches are you?" he asked.

"Not like there's anyone else I know in this blasted town," the man on the other side muttered, his voice low all of a sudden. "What are you thinking?"

"Do they happened to have a necklace with them, it should have an ember stone on it."

"Give me a second." A second later. "Yes. They do. They're doing some of their witchy business with it. Muttering in Latin and looking all white-eyed. What is it?"

"A key," said Damon. "One that they stole. Keep them at the house. They need to know you don't steal from Damon Salvatore."

He ran and within a few minutes he was at the house and opening the door only to be assaulted by pain. An extra syringe was pulled from his pocket and thrown. He caught the sight of Enzo catching it and the male Bennett witch striding focus, the talisman held in his left hand.

The witch said a word and jerked a hand, suddenly the world was black.

* * *

AN: Thus ends the first arc of the story. I found the last few chapters a little disappointing, writing an action scene in first-person is a might difficult than I thought. But it came along well at the end I think, though I might have to look back at it in the future and try to rewrite it. Mystic Falls is about to take a drastic change, when the threat has a degree of separation from one's self its easier to deal with, but Damon thought his plan through. Can the council kill their own children?

Mystic Fall's foundation is about to be rocked. Allegiances tested. Lines drawn.

I think I might not update for a month or two, depending. I've got exams around the corner so I have to put everything that's not top priority in the background. There's also the editing I have to do with A Hero's Journal, it never occurred to me until having to read the damn thing but it is long, not to mention I keep having to go back to previous chapters when I've forgotten the threads that should be tied up. I'll be doing that in between breaks and preparing the third instalment to The Hero Chronicles and the spin-off that has yet to earn a title-I'm thinking about the protagonist being Kai, he seems like an interesting character. Not to mention I should really being working on my other fic as well. I feel like I haven't been giving the kid any attention and it's got me thinking I'm a bad parent.

Sorry. Long author's note, but thank you for the read through and the favourite, and I hope you enjoy the story.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty One

"Dad and Jeremy are awake," said Bonnie, her voice soft and her posture closed off. She didn't look tired, so much as I saw that on her. The only word to describe her was drained. I hadn't looked at a mirror in the past few hours, but I was pretty sure I looked the same.

"How are they doing?" I asked.

"As well as we can hope with present matters," said Bonnie, letting out a sigh in the same breath. She looked at me, her eyes lined with worry. "Dad seems to be having second thoughts about the whole vampire thing."

I frowned. "I thought you had explained everything to him. That there was a possibility of him being a vampire."

"I did," said Bonnie. "But I told him that there was a slim chance of that happening, that he could think of our plan as more a measure to ensure he didn't get hurt."

I swallowed, feeling a pit of something awful move down my throat and harshly hit my stomach. A mixtures of emotions I couldn't quite handle were fighting for the forefront of my mind. I took a long breath and chose to redirect. "Jeremy?"

"He's taking it a lot better," she said. "I think I might be looking into it too deeply, but I think he's almost excited by the idea."

"Getting power in a world that, with each passing day, seems to want it as a prerequisite," I said. I shrugged. "It's smart of him, all things considered." Bonnie's features changed, looking as though she had a sour taste in her mouth. "We still have to deal with the people Anna's compelled. The last few days have proven to me that we need a vampire on our side."

"What about Enzo?" Bonnie asked after a moment's silence.

"Woman scorned," I said. "Did I not have some knowledge of the future I would think he was in love with Damon," I muttered. I frowned, thinking and then shrugged. "Retract the last. He is in love with Damon. Which means that when he's got his revenge, he'll want him out. Dangerous to us, particularly me, because I'm the one who snapped his neck."

"Not to mention the Tomb with vampires in town," Bonnie added. "Don't you think us binding him might have him working with Anna?"

"I burnt some sage. The spell's supposed to treat the circles as separate rooms. They won't be able to here each other."

"What if they can read each other's lips?" asked Bonnie.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure what I can do about that," I said. "But I took their daylight rings while they were unconscious. I don't know the particular loopholes which apply to Boundary spells, but in the case that they escape, we have daylight to be safe."

Bonnie nodded, letting out a shaky breath. "We're in over our heads with all this," said Bonnie. "It would have been better if Grams…" she looked at me at that. I frowned more at that than anything else. "If Grams were still here," she went on. "Then we would have more support. We'd maybe know how to handle all this."

"For now, there's nothing we can do about that," I said. "Grams did all she could to protect us. Now that lies on us. We can deal with this, I'm sure of it. We can make it through all this stronger."

"I wish I could have that certainty," she said. "Right now, the only thing I can see us doing is dying."

"We have a temporary countermeasure to that," I said, thinking about the spell.

"A countermeasure we're not too sure about," Bonnie muttered. "The spell might not have worked for all we know."

"I'm sure you felt it," I said. "The cord that connected us to Ben." Her expression changed. "I have faith in your ability, Bonnie. I think magic is a lot about that. Trusting in yourself and your power to protect you when needed."

Bonnie let out a sigh. "I don't like any of this," she said. "But it's the road that's been paved for us, it seems. What do we do now? Where do we go from here?"

I could only shrug. There was still too much that had happened to think we could get a measure of peace, too much that had been put out there for council to know, not to mention that in the heat of the moment I might have threatened them.

"Talk to the others. Put our cards on the table. Figure something out."

She nodded and together we walked into the house. I noticed more than my first run through, the house was smaller than it had seemed, to the left a dining room, neatly furnished though the things looked out of style, faded in colour. In the distance I could see smattering of the kitchen, various cutlery still in the sink, and to the left was what had been the living room.

Jeremy and my father sat a distance from each other, both surrounded by their own circles of dirt and with only a chair in the way of comfort. Elena sat close to Jeremy, looking at him with tears at the rim of her eyes; she looked of what I had seen in Bonnie, fatigue that stretched to her psyche.

All of them turned our way as we entered. Jeremy perked while my father's shoulders lightened, a breath of relief, I thought.

"Dad," I said, my voice with little inflection. "Jeremy." I stopped. Unsure of what to say. Did I apologise that they were alive? It was not the best of conditions, granted, but at the end of it all they had survived. I internally shook my head. To do that would mean I second guessed myself. At the time it had been the only thing we could do to ensure they would not die.

"Elena told us about your plan," said Jeremy in the silence I had left. "Everything work out okay?"

I nodded. "As well as anything could go," I told him. "Damon's bound for the time being."

"The time being?" I heard Elena asked.

"Stefan is still out there and Damon is still his brother. I don't think I can predict anything with certainty when he's concerned."

"Not to mention Enzo," Bonnie added. "He's helping us now, but we don't know when that will stop."

"Enzo?" asked Jeremy.

"Damon's friend," said Bonnie. "Micah indirectly saved him." Jeremy looked as if he had more questions. "Long story," Bonnie said. "One we can talk about later. Right now though, I think we should talk about the present crisis."

"What crisis?" I heard my father ask, speaking for the first time. "I thought you had the Anna girl bound."

"We do," said Bonnie. "But there are other matters that have come to light in the few hours. It turns out the Lockwood family are werewolves and to save a lot of people from being killed Micah made a boundary to confine Mr Lockwood."

My father let out a long breath, his hands running over his head and anxiety lining his features.

"So far the torches and pitchforks haven't appeared," I added. "But it's probably a matter of time before they do."

The frown my father wore deepened. I felt an odd feeling towards that, pleasure, but I didn't quite understand why, nor did I want to. I wanted to focus on an objective, and for the moment that objective was to ensure Jeremy wouldn't be killed by the council for being a vampire.

"More so when they find out about the recent bump in the town's vampire population," I continued. "We need to set countermeasures in place that ensure they don't automatically go to killing. Which I think will be hard seeing like it's their default function."

I noticed the looks that were being shot my way, expressions that ranged from worry on Bonnie and Jeremy, and disbelief on Elena's account. My father's expression I couldn't read, not that I looked at him long enough to get a read. Every time I looked at him I was hit by a mixture of emotions, most of which wanted to combine into a large amount of anger.

"So," said Bonnie. "We need to come up with a good contingency plan for when they attack or better yet a way to ensure they don't attack."

"How do we do that?" asked Jeremy.

Bonnie and I shrugged. "We don't know much about the workings of the council to plan anything," said Bonnie. "Our best would be to build a boundary around each our houses, protection of a sort, but I don't think Micah could do one that big?"

I gave another shrug. "I don't know. I haven't tried anything that big, but maybe Emily's Boundary spells were different to Grams'. Maybe there's a spell there that might make creating a large boundary easier."

"Haven't the both of you cast enough spells today?" my father asked. "Your mother told me about the dangers of magic. Spreading yourselves too thin is dangerous."

"We've been outsourcing power," said Bonnie. "Minimises the danger of magical exhaustion."

"Am I the only one wondering who Emily is?" asked Jeremy.

"Our ancestor," Bonnie answered absently. "She's the one who built the tomb Anna wanted to open. The necklace is important to that somehow."

The necklace, it was something I could figure out. They spoke, questions asked and Bonnie explaining, but I remained in my thoughts. The necklace was an anchor, much like Amara was an anchor for the Other Side, and anchors were meant to keep spells bound to the world past the death of the witches. A sudden chill passed up my spine. Anna so far had been able to keep a constant step ahead, if she had predicted this, her being captured and being bound, then she the obvious contingency plan would be to compel someone to kill the witch with the aptitude for Boundary spells.

A sudden vivid image of how Grams had died, a shot to the head from the window. It didn't seem probable but the only thing that managed to filter through my mind was that the shooter had been a sniper. Another look at the room and there were no windows, but beyond the small doorway there was a window that could probably see into the room.

"Motus," I said and the dining room table jumped into the air and blocked the doorway. Everyone was looking at me. "I just realised the spells end when their caster dies. If she foresaw getting captured she could have compelled someone to shoot me."

"Even locked up she's still a threat," I heard Elena mutter. She sighed. "Is this ever going to end? Are we ever going to be rid of her?"

I didn't answer, instead I was focused on something else. I took a breath, focusing around me. Bonnie had managed to manipulated connections a night before, moving them from herself to a glass of water and thus had water fuel fire. In theory, I could do the same. I felt around me, reaching out for the connection I knew would spread from the table to me; it took sometime seeing as I had ignored the tether for the longest time, but eventually I found it.

I felt it out at first, running a metaphorical hand over it. It felt almost like wool, but at its centre it was hollow, power surging through it in one direction; from me to the table. I ran my hand over the thread until I found the exact point it hinged on me. I took a hold of it but didn't yet move it. My hand still on the thread I opened myself up, reaching where I knew the necklace would be and found its power. Swiftly I pulled the thread—the moment it lost its power source there was a change, the thread grew weaker, quickly unravelling as it yearned for power—and placed it on the necklace. It stuck, refilling itself with power until it was no longer cotton but a thick thread of steel.

The table was stuck in place. I allowed myself a smile. A success and in my first try. I shook my head, noticing that the conversation had stopped, again people were looking at me. I was getting too distracted by everything, letting my thought stray far more than they usually did.

Why couldn't I focus? I knew the answer when the yawn came. I pulled out my phone and looked at the clock. Three in the morning.

"Micah?" Jeremy was saying.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"I asked about the becoming a vampire," he said. "When do we complete it?"

"We?" I asked. I looked at dad before my eyes quickly strayed back to Jeremy. I organised my jumbled mind and found the correct information. "You need human blood. Enzo's gone to get some, he's said he'd meet us here."

"Get how?" my father asked.

"Get a blood bag in a hospital," I answered. "Until Stefan gets back he's going to be watching over you. Teaching you the ropes, control, managing the shifts and everything else that pertains to being a vampire."

"After that we'll see about getting daylight rings like Stefan and Damon," said Bonnie.

There was more speaking that I completely missed as I went over my plans for getting capital. Jeremy and dad I wouldn't have pay, but Enzo would and that was fifty thousand that I would have as capital. Vicki probably wouldn't be able to pay the sum, but she would play a role in changing the policy in Mystic Falls, the same could not be said for Mr Fell. He was part of the Founding Families, and as I suspect from his kind, they were all born with trust funds. But even if he couldn't pay I would have to get him a ring. If we wanted to win whatever war would come between the council and the supernatural entities of Mystic Falls, then we would need powerful and influential people. Mr Fell fit that category quite well.

What to do with Mr Lockwood though. I didn't like the position I had left him in. Bound in a circle that could let things through but unable to let him out. The council and its members could have been trying to kill him in his wolf form without the man being able to fight back. I swallowed, pushing back the impulse that told me to speed back to the graveyard and rework the boundary. Everything would work out, I told myself, wolves are resilient creatures. Even I didn't know a sure way to kill them in their wolf forms.

Speaking of which I would have to find a way to make a moonlight ring, with how crazy the town is it made sense. Perhaps a trip to New Orleans to look for the spell….

"I'm too tired to think properly," I said. It was the only thing that made sense, there would be no other reason I would even consider the thought of going to New Orleans.

"No kidding," Jeremy muttered. "You look out of it."

I rubbed at my eyes. "My thoughts are running a mile a minute," I muttered. "I should probably get some to sleep soon."

"We all should," my father said. "Can't we postpone all this blood drinking business until in the day?"

"I think it's a two day transition period or you die," I said. I ran my hand over my head. "I think. My mind's screwy so my clear knowledge is a bit screwy."

"Clear knowledge?" Elena asked.

"Micah can get answer without having to work through the answer," said Bonnie.

For example I know that your necklace is a talisman, I wanted to say but that would be bad. Why? I asked myself. It could help more than it would be detrimental. It could mean that Bonnie and I each had an object to channel from, matter of fact, if Bonnie got better with her connection, we could set up a set a few threads between these talismans that would allow for easy channelling.

I said it.

"What do you mean it's a talisman," asked Elena.

I pulled out the necklace. "Every object a witch owns has a part of them, a portion of their power. Talismans offer a way to access that power. This talisman is one for the Bennett line, which is the reason Bonnie and I can use it so readily. The one Elena has belongs to the Mikaelson line."

My father's breath hitched.

"Who are the Mikaelsons?" asked Bonnie.

There were no ways to fully encompass their danger, nothing I could say that would make these people understand that fighting against them was a futile effort. But some thought into the matter found the right words for me. "Their danger directly is one thing," I said, "but it holds nothing to the fact that if we killed the wrong one of them, it might kill a long line of vampires that might include all those we know."

A silence hung in the room. Honestly, I was surprised at myself. I was saying a lot. Laying down a lot. But then again, this room was filled with the people I trusted most in this world.

I took a breath and looked at Bonnie.

"Like I said, sis. It sucks knowing the future, especially when changing it is impossible."

"Heavy," said Jeremy. "So you've been trying to stop all this."

"Since I was five."

The words had their intended effect when I took a glancing look at my father. It didn't hit me until that moment what I was doing. Everything I had said had been a bid not to lose him, to change his mind about becoming a vampire. I should have felt guilty but I didn't because though I was a manipulative bastard I didn't want to lose my father. If that meant playing his emotional heartstring to my advantage then I would do it.

"You mean—" my father started but couldn't continue.

"That spell ran deeper than I've been making out. My knowledge started at that age. I knew about magic but not its full depth, so when Grams ran her spell…well, I haven't been me for a very long time. But much though I hated the experience, the one thing I hated was knowing some of the things to come but being unable to prepare for them."

"One of these things being the Mikaelsons?" asked Bonnie.

"Amongst others," I said. I ran hand at my brow. I was saying too much, messing the future up too much. I wouldn't be able to predict it anymore, but then again staying close to the course had been messed up from the beginning. Jeremy was a vampire, Mr Lockwood had turned instead of Tyler, and a lot more people knew about magic than in the series. The events were something I could no longer predict, but the people were a different matter. I knew the Originals and their troubles, I got a read of Qetsiyah and Silas, the plans of the Travellers were clear and ones I could sully by just obtain most of the doppelgangers and putting them under a powerful Cloaking spell.

Crap, I must be tired, because unlike a few hours ago I couldn't focus on one thing. Every though was bleeding into the other and the entire ordeal was making me loose-lipped. I took a breath, calming myself and rubbing at my eyes again.

"I need to sleep," I said. "This was a burden I thought mine to bear for a long time and being tired is making me selfish. So I'm going to sit down and keep my mouth shut."

I did as I'd said and in moments I was drifting away, having fitful dreams of the people around me dying. Even in my dreams I decided with a vividness unknown to dreams that I would not let another of those I loved die.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Two

This wasn't my forte, but then again at this point I hadn't explored enough avenues that I would be comfortable in saying I had found my discipline. Nonetheless, at the end of this year would I would have one. So far my interests were in Boundary spells, but focusing on one thing seemed a little short sighted.

Two salt circles were drawn out to my left and right, within two objects, a ring in one and a bracelet in the other. Emily's grimoire was in front of me and opened to the appropriate spells. I closed my eyes and took a long breath, reaching out and finding the infinite source of power afforded to me by the earth. It was becoming easier reaching out, finding the appropriate rumble around me and letting it fill me up, but still the obvious problem of the power from the earth only being able to take me so far.

I pushed the thoughts away, focusing on the now. I hadn't been able to sleep much in the early morning, time I had taken to read up on enchantments. They were an interesting field to study though they required a few prerequisites before one could master them. The spell Emily had written to enchant Daylight rings had the particular loophole that the witch who had made it, and thus had a stronger tie to it, could disenchant it at will. Power I wanted to have over someone as volatile as Damon Salvatore.

This meant his Daylight ring had to be destroyed, so too did Anna's, though that was more a protective measure, restricting her motions if ever she escaped.

"_Phasmatos de Strutos_," I started, filling the power within me starting to move with a purpose. "_Avox Adellum." _The two objects began spinning, moving faster and faster until they were no longer on the ground.

I repeated the phrase and the objects moved faster, stirring up enough wind that the salt confines were beginning break apart. I didn't pay it much attention, instead focusing on the spell. The third repeat and sparks flew, hitting the invisible barrier set by the salt and going no further. The fourth and the objects blew apart.

A breath left me, I touched my brow and I felt sweat. I frowned at that. The previous night I had been using power the likes I had never tried before, all while channelling the Bennett Talisman. I hadn't felt this tired then. I hadn't felt this used. Yet one spell today, channelling only the power from the earth and I was tired, wanting some sugar in my system.

Grams might have liked the purity of channelling the elements, but in all honesty they strained too much.

An idea hit me and with a small objective in place I found purpose. I looked through the grimoire particularly in concern with Linking spells but I couldn't find anything in the direction I wanted. I got up, traverse through the house until I found Grams' grimoire, it didn't take long before I found the appropriate spell.

I let out a long groan as I saw the thing. I'd never handled any form of Linking spell before, and this was definitely the most complicated spell I had ever seen. I'd need Bonnie to lead it, but that would have to wait until she got home. Unlike me, my sister had been hard at work with various tasks she hadn't had time to tell me about.

Ever since my comments I had noticed a look in her eyes, a sort of heated passion that decided each of her steps. It was great, especially with the amount of crap that would fall our way, but it was also worrying. I was not really sixteen and yet I was cracking with the pressure of all this, of two people in my life having died. How would she deal with it?

I shook my head. She had survived well enough in the series and back then she hadn't had the easy access to power that being a twin achieved. She'd had to gather her own power through her own means.

It was time I learnt to access the greater well of power that existed.

The first step was getting blood, which would be easy enough with the sudden rise in the vampires I knew. First I had to be able to channel their power, but I stopped myself from just diving in and chose either Stefan or Elena. They would be higher scaled, but, so concentrated that I might just overdose. I had to take this slowly, experiment with different objects.

I grabbed my journal and wrote down what I knew or at least suspected. The power from the Elements were a staple, a set amount in which none was more powerful than the other. But there would be difficulty in interconnection, drawing power from an element I didn't have a particular instinctive grasp.

I searched the house for a few candles, placed them around my person and lit them with a spell. I closed my eyes and meditated, feeling out in search of a power that was at least familiar to me. Bonnie had let me feel a bit of her element and what I remembered was a crackling heat at the edge of my vision. Now the task was to put that heat in front of me, let it fill me up and its power become mine.

It helped that I knew it wouldn't be easy, so the next three hours were spent patiently searching.

Bonnie broke me from my meditation, but then again after three hours spent doing what was the equivalent of watching paint dry I had dosed. She looked harried, her hair not entirely unkempt but not her usual standard and her eyes shifting left and right, as though she were waiting for an attack at any moment.

I felt a pit of guilt settle in my stomach. That was my doing.

"You're awake," she said, her eyes quickly taking in the items around me. "What have you been doing?"

"I was forcefully breaking the enchantments on the daylight objects," I said before going into the loophole. Bonnie was frowning by the time I was done.

"Smart," she said. "But what if Damon kills you after making the ring? You'll be the only one that can quickly dispel the ring so he would take you out a precaution."

I hadn't thought of that. I swallowed, feeling a chill creep up my spine. "I'm sure I can find a curse that will stop that," I said, my frown matching Bonnie's. "I'm sure Emily knows something to that effect."

Bonnie sighed. "Do what you have to," she said. "But remember our current problems, one of which is the Lockwoods."

"Plural?" I asked.

Bonnie let out a tired sigh, running a hand through her hair. "Tyler was turned into a vampire last night," she said and my heart almost stopped, thinking that the contingency had caused the turn of another of our friends. Bonnie shook her head. "It wasn't your fault. The woman came in specifically with the purpose of turning Tyler. She even had vampire blood for the occasion."

"I didn't see that coming," I muttered.

"What are you thinking?" Bonnie asked.

"Maybe a play by the council," I said and with these words thought solidified in my head. "Tyler wouldn't be able to control himself and maybe kill his mother. They could swoop in, say he had some sort of nervous breakdown and killed everyone in his family. It would all be sorted cleanly, relatively speaking."

Bonnie was wearing an unsettled expression. "Gruesome," she said, disgust lining the words. "But that doesn't fit. Where would they get vampire blood in the first place? We already know all the vampires in Mystic Falls, none of which have been captured by the council."

"It was a long night," I said. "There might have been one passing through only to be caught by the council."

She shook her head. "I don't buy it. I'll run another Tracking spell with the compass. Check it out, but it's got me thinking that this was part of Anna's plan."

"It could be, but to what end? Tyler wouldn't exactly be up to helping her out of her binding," I said, musing aloud.

Bonnie shrugged. "I don't know, but what I know is that Tyler and Mayor Lockwood will need our help. We need to get working on those rings because leaving dad and Jeremy with curtains being their only protection is unsettling."

I nodded. "How are they going?" I asked, a little uncertain. I'd read message that the two had drunk their fill of blood and were thus vampires. I hadn't gone to see them though. "Do you know?"

Bonnie shook her head. "Enzo told Elena and me to stay away from the house unless we were certain we could protect ourselves. I don't think I can curse either of them so I've been staying away. Keeping my mind on other things."

"Like the Lockwoods?"

"And Grams' funeral," Bonnie added. My stomach dropped. I hadn't thought about that. "Dad's been helping me with preparations over the phone."

I shifted, feeling some discomfort on the matter.

"I don't expect you to help me," she said. "I know how you feel about the whole thing. But," she let out a tired breath, "I need help. You have the capability to know everything that's going on. Make it work. Get us to the point that Enzo doesn't have to stand over us while we sleep."

Something else I didn't know, but then again I didn't know many things about when I had been asleep save the nightmares.

I took a breath, a plan already starting to form in my mind. I knew how to put this to a stop, if not that then a stalemate, but if it would work was something I could be sure about. I needed the policy considering the supernatural. But that couldn't happen because our numbers were too low even if our threat status was high. In a drawn out fight, we wouldn't be able to win.

"Okay." I said, my voice filled with purpose. "I think I might know a way to help us all but I'll need your help with something. A spell to link me with the talisman."

"That's dangerous," said Bonnie. "You're opening yourself up to a lot. That power channels a portion of our ancestor's power. You'll be giving them a foothold in which to operate in the material plane."

"I know. I'm willing to take the chance."

"Let me see the spell," she said and I handed the book over to her. She got to work, drawing two circles on the ground and connecting them with a tread of rope. The next part I didn't like so much, it involved Bonnie running a knife through my left hand and spilling the blood within one of the circles. I winced at the dull throbbing pain, watching as she deposited the talisman and began the spell.

This was the first time I had ever been on the outside of a spell being cast, watching as Bonnie said Latin words I couldn't understand, her eyes glaze over and a subtle shift in the air that spoke of magic. The rope between the circles began to shift. It didn't become shorter but the middle jumped, tying itself to a complicated knot. As the knotted bulge began to thicken I felt something at the core of my being, something latching on to me. I closed my eyes and felt it out, feeling that it was a tether, suddenly getting thicker and more complicated with each passing second. I looked deeper at the link and I could feel the flow of power, moving from me to the necklace and back again. But there was another, a more fragile tether which darted to Bonnie.

I tried feeling it out but I felt a backlash, a sudden current that brought discomfort. I went back to feeling it from afar, maybe a minute passed before the tether disappeared.

"Done," said Bonnie.

"I feel it." The power from the link was still filling me up and leading to a constant each. It was a portion of the power from the ancestors. It made me wonder how much more power I would gain from making a direct link. Finding a way to channel their power from their source.

I put the thought away for a later date. Right now it was time to enforce my plan to chance how things were ran.

The first step were the rings. I got out my phone and called Stefan. It was a call that didn't take as long as I thought it would be, but then I knew what Stefan would want. Primes to work, I knew which buttons to press and Lexi would be the button which would make him yield.

I promised that I would make her a ring if he got me the stones.

The next was setting ground work for something big.

"You want me to do what?" Mayor Lockwood asked with equal parts fatigue and exasperation on his features, his wife sat on the couch beside him and he was looking at me as though I had gone crazy.

"I want you to get shot," I said again, and now that I listened clearly to it, I did sound crazy.

Mayor Lockwood gave a snort, getting to his feet and pacing.

"Help us understand this," said Mrs Lockwood. "How does my husband getting shot help us with all this?"

I took a breath, configuring my thoughts until I found the thing I thought might be right to say. "I don't know much about the workings of your council, but usually its cloak and dagger. You've never wanted the town to know about vampires and the like."

"And with good reason," said Mayor Lockwood. "Something like that could cause a panic, hurt more people than it would help."

"Which is true," I said. "But that need for secrecy is an avenue we can explore. Right now you're an enemy to them, you're a werewolf. Which, on a night of the full-moon, makes you a lot more dangerous than vampires." Mayor Lockwood didn't like that one bit judging from his growl. I didn't let it deter me. "They'll want to take you out of the equation. I don't know how because, like I said, I don't know how the council operates. But one thing's for sure. They won't want anyone looking into it."

"So me getting shot—"

"Gets the public looking toward the Lockwood family," I interrupted. "You're the mayor, a big deal even in a small town such as ours. If someone tries to kill you and after a while you or someone in your family dies, then there will be inquiry."

"Or it might be overlooked," said Mrs Lockwood. "The council has been operating as long as it had because there has been forethought. There are two councils," she said. "The town and founder's councils. The division was set in place so that if someone came after us, there would always been an objective eye that would work for the greater goal which is protecting the people of Mystic Falls. Your plan, commendable though it might be, will only reach so far without the others backing us."

"Mr Fell is a vampire," I said, something they were not too shocked by. "He'll help us on the media front."

"What about healthcare?" asked Mrs Lockwood. "The Maxwell family has that area covered. They might kill my husband while he's healing from the bullet wound you want to put in him."

I let out a long breath, taking in this new information and filing it away. The council here seemed a more intricate network than the series had made me think, but even the most intricate of measure could be played. I thought on the matter, thought on the Maxwell family. They were the largest family in Mystic Falls, which spoke volumes in their wealth seeing as a lot of them had an unsettling loyalty to the main family. Claude belonged to a branch of the family, his father had married in and bore three children, one of which had been my boyfriend.

I felt a dagger enter my stomach at the thought, at all the unresolved feeling his leaving had conjured but I pushed them back, focusing on the present.

The main family was headed by Graham and Janice Maxwell. They didn't work. They had three daughters and a son, though he wouldn't be a part of this being too young. The daughters too for that matter, one was in middle school and two went to school with me, which meant Janice and Graham must have people on the inside. People on the lower council who would slip something in. But even if they did, would that kill Mayor Lockwood?

I didn't know enough about werewolves, but it didn't make sense that Mayor Lockwood didn't. The wolf gene was hereditary, so lore would have been passed down through the generations—a sudden thought hit me.

"You have a brother," I said.

"Mason," said Mayor Lockwood. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Do you have his number? I think he might know something about being a wolf."

Mayor Lockwood shook his head. "No. Mason's been keeping low. Why would I even want to call him? He's never been a part of this family. Never wanted to be a part of its politics."

"Not to mention he's safer outside Mystic Falls," said Mrs Lockwood. "I think it would be better for us if we left too. Get a chance of scenery, at least until Tyler adjusts."

"Tyler is safest here," I said. "Bonnie and can protect him."

There was another snort from Mayor Lockwood. "I don't think I'll put my son's life in the hands of some child," he muttered.

I felt a pang of anger, child though I was, I knew more about everything that he did. I took a breath, pushing away the anger and instead focusing on rationale. "Bonnie and I are the only witches that would be willing to make him a Daylight ring," I told him. "That's protection."

Mayor Lockwood stopped, looking at me for the first time with an expression other than exasperation. There was interest there, the same interest I could see on Mrs Lockwood.

"A witch," he said. "Honestly. I thought those were myth. That there burnings were racist propaganda."

"I think some of it was," I said. "One does not simply capture a witch. It requires a lot of work and one's guard to be so low it's almost non-existent."

"Yet you're scared," said Mayor Lockwood. "It's faint, but I can almost smell it in the air. I could smell it on your sister too."

"You can smell fear?" I muttered but then I pushed the thought away, cataloguing it for further thought. "To not be scared in present circumstances would be foolish. I wonder if I might get a list of all the member of the councils. I'd like to know who to stay away from in dark corners."

"I'll jot that down for you," said Mrs Lockwood before she stood and walked off, giving the mayor a squeeze on the shoulder as she passed him. His expression was the softest I had ever seen it.

The man took a seat, running a hand through his hair. "What I am doesn't change anything," he said. "I still want to protect the people of this town." He looked at me, grey eyes pleading. "Please. Tell me that I'll be able to control this. That I won't hurt anyone."

"It's predictable. Your transformations," I said. "So I can bind you on nights of the full moon. Make sure you don't hurt anyone."

"What about Tyler?" he asked. "Can the same said for him? Won't he become like me if he kills anyone?"

Would he become a hybrid? I asked myself, his words jolting the memory of Klaus. After all he had been a vampire first before killing.

"I don't know," I said. "Not for sure. But he'll have help. He'll be able to control himself after all this is said and done."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty Three

Nightfall.

After my meeting with the Lockwoods I had spent a remainder of my time alternating between practicing my Boundary spell and try channel Bonnie's element. My thought in between transitions were fervent with thoughts of an attack, but staying at home was my safest bet. The fact that I didn't know how they operated was what scared me the most. I didn't know whether they would just kill me, torture me first for information, or make me disappear.

Nightfall brought with it a certain danger because it was easier to skulk, but there was also security because the vampires I knew would be out and about, protecting me and others. I still felt a pit of unsettlement at the thought of that, needing to be protected. It wasn't something I like, particularly since I had the power to protect myself.

Bonnie let out a sigh, entering from the other room. "Calls made, church booked, the funeral place is taking care of most of it." She took a seat on the couch opposite mine. "Did you know that Grams had a lot of friends? Talkative friends. The church is going to be full."

"Are any of them witches, do you think?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Why? Think of having them share their knowledge?"

"Yes, but that's a secondary thought. Our dad's a vampire. Four of our friends are vampires. I'm thinking with the dislike between witches and vampires they might start to get ideas of full scale extermination."

"Part of the reason things should be settled before the funeral," she said. "Have you made any sort of headway? Come up with any plans to sort things out?"

"I had a plan," I said before quickly telling her the gist of my plans with the Lockwoods and the finding out about the deeper workings of the council. "There are two councils," I told her. "One made of the Founding Families and the town council which is made of relative families and people trusted enough that they might put the protection of the town first. The founders make the plans while the town council carries them out, but if the founders are compromised the town council takes over."

"Okay," said Bonnie. "But shouldn't you know a plan to get all of this done as cleanly as possible? You have clairsentience. That should mean something."

"It should," I said. "But I've noticed my ability lends itself to magic not the mundane. I'm thinking though, waiting for that something to pop into my head that might help."

Bonnie frowned in thought. "Aren't we their only supplier of Vervain? That could be of use."

"Maybe," I said. "I've been thinking about a meeting," I told her. "Every participant of the council, tell them that we won't harm them. They don't know much about us being witches, I'm sure they're a lot more scared of us than we are of them."

"Us humans have the propensity of killing that which scares us," Bonnie said sagely.

"I know. I'm ashamed to admit I've had the thought that killing all who know would be the best solution."

"Scary for a sixteen year old to have those kind of thoughts," said Bonnie. She looked at me, dithering and looking at her nails before she said, "I'm thinking about speaking to Dr Brockman."

"That's going to be hard, don't you think? You'll be forced to tell him half-truths all the time and mistakenly telling him the truth might have you in psychiatric care."

"Be that as it may, what's happened to us isn't healthy," she said. "The mind can only take so much before it cracks."

"I've been thinking about that, a lot, and I was more worried about you truth be admitted."

"I'm not the one who knows stuff that could happened," said Bonnie.

I stopped, taking a look at her before deciphering her words. "This is an attempt to get me to see Dr Brockman too isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes," Bonnie said. At least the banality was refreshing. My expression must have changed because she said, "I've been reading some of the books Grams had, about the effects some types of fuel have on witches and it can get really dark. I'm talking mass murder for power, dark."

"I wouldn't tread that far," I said, my voice uncertain. I didn't like that quality to it and since she knew me so well, Bonnie caught it.

"We have the potential to be extremely powerful," said Bonnie. "We have the potential to effect great change in the world, but that change could result in destruction. It all starts and ends with our state of mind, and the things that have happened lately I'm afraid that we might go dark and not even realise it."

"Give me a sec," I said before standing and rushing up to my room. I found my journal, stashed under my pillow. I made a mental note to create a much stronger barrier for the thing, it housed my thoughts and soon my memories. It couldn't fall into the wrong hands. I went back downstairs, flipping through the pages and as I set the journal in front of Bonnie, the page I had wanted was opened.

"What's this?" asked Bonnie as she took the journal and read through it.

"It's my list. Guidelines I have to follow. If I explicitly break one of those then I know I've hit the deep end." I took my seat and went back to reading Emily's journal on the Boundary spell she had used on the tomb. "Like I said, I've given me cracking under pressure some thought."

Bonnie was quiet for a few minutes before she handed the journal back to me. "It's pretty thin as countermeasures go," she said. "Rules can be bent."

"Ten," I said.

"Guidelines can be bent only so far as they are not broken," she said, reading the tenth guideline. "I have to ask then, why write the rules in the first place in you're just going to bend them to suit the situation?"

"Value based guidelines are more effective," I said. "I don't want the sort of mentality where I abide by the rules and anything not explicitly stated as wrong is permissible. There's also the knowledge that I'm going to add more rules at some point, with the value based approach, if a rule does fit the theme set by the others I'll be aware that I'm sliding."

Bonnie sighed. "I'm not going to win this am I?"

"We have our own ways of dealing," I told her. "This is mine. Not to mention that the thought of telling my problems to a third party I find uncomfortable."

"Fine," said Bonnie with another sigh. "But at least know that I'm here if you want to talk."

I smiled a little. "I know Bonnie." A knock came from the door. I looked at Bonnie. "You expecting anyone?"

She shook her head. I felt my heart start beating fast against my chest, but a few breaths calmed me. There was a sense of security in feeling the power provided by the necklace, feeding me and making my skin itch.

Bonnie and I got up and slowly made our way to the door. We stood on either side and after a muttered word from Bonnie the door clicked and slid open. On the other side stood a man. He was roughly my height if a bit shorter, his hair an almost blond brown and his skin pale.

I searched my memory and didn't find him within.

"Hey," he said. "Are you the Bennett witches?"

"You're a vampire," said Bonnie. I took a quick glance at the man and I could really find nothing that said as such. Maybe Bonnie's own gift of clairvoyance was becoming more powerful.

"Yeah. Stefan's friend. Lee," the man provided. He didn't extend a hand.

"We won't invite you in," I said. "This is the only house we have that a vampire can't enter."

Lee shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I'm here to tell you that Logan, Vicki and Stefan are back in town and give you these." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a little pouch. "The rings with the lapis lazuli stone," he said handing the thing over, his hand stopped at the precipice of the door.

Bonnie opened her hand and the pouch jumped from Lee's hand to hers. I really had to get the hang of moving smaller objects, it looked like a lot of fun, especially combined with the nonverbal utterance of the spell. I had succeeded doing it at times of stress, but with a little work I was sure I could be as proficient with the nonverbal side of the spell as Bonnie.

"There's at least two dozen of those stones," Lee said. "We were hoping that giving more than you requested might buy me one too."

"Doable," I said. "First I have to know. Have you killed or are you planning to kill anyone?"

The question caught him off guard by his expression but he shook his head. "No. Just living."

"We'll get started with the rings in the morning," I said. "We'll get your details from Stefan to sort things out."

"Sure," said Lee and he turned to leave.

"Be careful out there," said Bonnie. "There are still people hunting vampires."

"I'll make a note of that," said Lee before he sped off, moving too fast for my eyes to track.

"More vampires we'll feel obliged to protect," I muttered.

"At least with a greater number of us they can't hope to attack us and come out unscathed," said Bonnie.

Something niggled in my mind as we walked away from the door, and took a deeper look into the workings of the ritual for the ring. It didn't hit me for most of the night until I was trying to sleep and finally the thought occurred: A show of force.

The main reason that supernatural species were in hiding was because they were greatly outnumbered, because even though power was a factor in a war, numbers spoke a greater volume. With the rise in numbers of our vampire population, we had an amount of security in that if they attacked one of us, they would have the full wrath of the others.

"Stefan," I said, after a quick call. "Can we meet? I need an extremely large favour."

**888**

We met at the Lockwoods, something I could see the family was not too happy about seeing as they had to invite a few vampires into their home, but this would involve them. We sat in a rather large drawing room in the Lockwood abode, Mr and Mrs Lockwood sat close to me, their last measure of protection if something went wrong. Stefan, Enzo, Lee and Lexi, a blonde I remembered being killed in the first season, stood close to the three of us, and the other parts of the drawing room was filled with the newer vampires: Logan Fell, Vicki Donovan, Tyler, Jeremy and my dad.

"I'm thinking we should out ourselves," I said, my voice breaking through the silence which had settled. There was an awkward pause as I gathered my thoughts, feeling the weight of all the eyes which were set on me. I took a breath, ease the churning sea that was my thoughts.

"The council already knows about Mr Lockwood being a wolf, they don't understand it yet but lore on wolves is not pretty. I'm thinking they'll know what I am too, it's not that much of a leap to think witch with the present climate of being that have been popping up, and further more they know that I have vampire friends. That interconnectedness between at this point is our greatest weapon."

"We're not going to kill anyone," Mr Lockwood interrupted. "Because that's what I feel you're about to say."

"It's us or them, Rich," muttered Mr Fell. "I'm sure you know how we were before," he spread him arms, gesturing them at himself, "this and whatever you are."

"These are our friends," the mayor said.

"Were," he said. "I'm sure the thinking of a way to capitalise on this, get on top before we get our wits about us."

"We're not killing," said Stefan, his voice quiet but bringing with it palpable authority. "Killing is messy and breeds resentment. There are cleaner ways of doing all this."

"By outing ourselves," I said, putting my voice out there. "Show them that interconnection that exists and show them that hurting anyone of us could bring about a war they can't win."

"Incite a cold war," said Jeremy.

"Good plan, but it all falls apart after the first kill, kid," said Lexi. "And with vampires it's bound to happen. Control only lands so far. There are deeper workings to being a vampire you can't know about, things that don't lend themselves too well to order."

"But there is order," I said. "It's not a stated law. There's no Volturi in the background keeping vampires from showing the world they exist and yet they all do. That is order in a way, only this will be a lot more localised, for the greater purpose that is survival, and I think survival is the greatest motivator."

"It helps that you're making a huge threat too," said Jeremy. He knew me too well. Eyes turned on him. "The role of the youngest vampire is between me and Tyler," he said, "but I could probably take down ten people without breaking a sweat. Micah wants to show them that there are enough of us that we'd pose a problem large enough that they can't hope to deal with it."

"What happens if they don't take the threat too well?" asked my father, speaking for the first time. There was a look in his eyes, almost calculating.

"Answer's pretty simple," Enzo drawled. "The war begins."

"It's too dangerous," said Mr Lockwood. "The chance that this war might begin is too large. I'm not having my son, my family in that kind of danger."

"Then run," said Enzo.

"This is my home," said Mr Fell. "I've made a life for myself here. I'm not leaving."

"I'm afraid that sentimentality will get us killed," my father said, "or worse, killing those we called friends."

"We should put this to a vote," Mr Fell. "An usher into order as it were. Those for coming out and those against. Get gauge at how we proceed because sleeping in a motel is something I don't think I can put up with for another day. For?" he said as his hand rose.

I followed, it was my plan, of course I'm biased towards it. Jeremy and Enzo and Vicki oddly enough.

"Five against...Richard, Stefan, Tyler and Rudy," said Mr Fell. "It's a tie."

"Suddenly we're not counted?" asked Lee.

"I'm off the mind you two won't be sticking around once you can walk around in the day," said Mr Fell, "and Carol isn't supernatural so…"

"I understand," she said, though she sound put off.

"There are people not being counted though," I said. "Bonnie and Elena." Fuck, I thought, as confusion spread across Jeremy's features.

"Elena's not supernatural," he said.

I shrugged. "She is," I said. "I'll explain it later."

"Why not now?" asked Vicki. "If we're a community what have you to hide?"

Right, she knew about my clairsentience. Everyone was looking at me again. "Why don't we let her find out first before I say it," I said. "It's a pretty life-changing aspect of yourself to find out, it hurts when others know before you do."

"Pretty thin as excuses go," said Enzo.

"But one that's his," said Stefan. Right. He would know. For that matter, if Lexi knew about Kathrine then she too would know. I took a glance at them and saw Lexi was shooting me the oddest of looks. It must have been odd, being her age and watching children talk about these plans.

"I could get it out of the way," said Vicki. "Let slip. I'm just dying to know all of a sudden." Jeremy was shooting her a scowl. "I'm kidding, Jeremy. Lighten up."

"Should we call the both of them, then?" asked Mr Fell. "Ask for their say in the matter?"

"I know Bonnie well enough to speak for her," I said. "She would vote for."

Mr Fell looked at my father. "She would," he said.

"Right. So we're doing this. They probably don't know for sure I've been turned yet," he said. "I'll organise a meeting say, tomorrow?"

I gave a nod. "I think we'll have the Daylight rings ready by then," I said.

"We spring this on them, set certain conditions in place," he said.

"But before that we need to establish rules," my father said. "If we want to make this work there needs to be accountability."

"There goes the fun of being a vampire," muttered Vicki.

"Rudy's right," said Mr Lockwood. "Let's not forget where we come from, protecting the people of this town, that goal should not be lost because we want to save ourselves."

"What about enforcing those rules?" asked Lexi. "I don't think you'll kill every vampire that hurts someone."

"I can probably build a Boundary spell much like the Entombing spell," I said. "It'll take some practise but my work with boundaries is moving along quickly. Probably a month before I can take on the task."

"Which leaves the obvious problem of you and your sister," said Enzo. "You're a witch, I'm assuming you can break out of any spell you cast."

"As well as his sister," said Lexi. "Witches of the same line, not to mention there's the twin thing."

"We outsource, then," I said. "A third party. But there's the obvious problem."

"Bree might be willing to help," said Stefan.

We continued in that vein, talking about control measures that could make vampires just another part of society. It was near midnight by the time they were done, at least by my count, and I was almost dead on my feet, it didn't help that I knew I had to wake up early in the morning to start on those rings. This whole mess was messing too much with my sleep cycle.

"I know the stereotype amongst your kind is an empty head," I said, slipping into the room Tyler had quickly ensconced himself in. "But you were oddly quiet in there."

"You shouldn't be alone with me," Tyler said, immediately on the other side of the room and leaning heavily against the wall.

I pulled out a sage bush in my pocket and after a muttered word the smell of sage wafted around us. "I take it you're not dealing well with everything," I said, taking a seat on a couch.

"It's a lot to take in," he said. "What is that? With the sage?"

"Privacy," I said. "No one beyond the room can hear us."

"So no one could hear you if you screamed," he said and his tone said I was beyond stupid for putting the spell up.

"No, but then again the same can be said for you. You don't have to worry so much about holding yourself together," I said. "You won't hurt me."

Tyler snorted. "That's what my mother said before I sunk my teeth into her neck," he said, disgust lining his words. "If she hadn't been drinking Vervain I might have killed her. I think holding myself together is the only thing I can do right now."

I was caught at a loss for a long time, reeling over that, how it must feel to hurt one of the people you loved most in the world. It hadn't been directly me that had killed my father, but it didn't stop the massive amount of guilt I felt every time I looked at him. I swallowed, thinking of the appropriate words to say.

"Thought so," said Tyler. "I'm dangerous," he said. "I'm seeing that with every second I spent with someone human, someone whose pulse draws me closer."

"But you will learn to control it," I told him.

He shook his head. "I've never been one for control," he said. "I know I'll lose my temper, give in to the hunger, and when that happens, your solution to all this will come undone." He took a breath, looking at me with the same look I had seen in his father's eyes when he had been deathly afraid of hurting someone. "Can I ask a favour?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"Lock me up. I don't want to risk the chance of hurting my parents, of killing someone. So can you do that boundary thing you were talking about and lock me away, just until I can control myself?"

"That would be counterproductive," I said.

"I know, but I want this."

I let out a sigh before nodding, this was a good a time as any. I took a long breath and the spell began; instead of the circle this time it was a square, using the walls as anchors. I could feel the lines drawing in my mind and they being fuelled with power. There was almost a sentience to the power afforded to me by the link to the talisman, knowing when to stop, to let me breathe while I pushed power into the lines for the spell. The intent behind the barrier was two-fold: Keep only Tyler in and keep out those he could kill.

Seven iterations and the spell was done. I hadn't even broken a sweat. Perhaps if I kept practising I would be able to achieve the marvel of an Entombing spell faster than a month.

"It's done. You'll be bound in this room, your parents, I think will not be able to come it, but I'll speak to Stefan about teaching you to control yourself."

"Thank you," he said. I gave him a nod.

"It will get better," I said before leaving, my last look told me he expected anything but.

As I made it out of the room most looked shocked, a quiet spread out that I didn't understand.

"What's going?" I asked.

"Elena just called," said Jeremy. "Caroline just killed her mother."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Four

"And it all falls apart before it can come together," I heard Lexi muttered.

_Fuck the butterfly effect_ was the only thought screaming through my mind. There were too many changes, too many that I could not confidently say I could predict the future. Sheriff Forbes had survived into the later seasons and yet now she had been killed by her own daughter.

I got out my phone and called Bonnie. I had left her sleeping at home but if Elena could call Jeremy then she must have already called Bonnie.

She picked up. "You've heard."

"Yes, what's going on?" There was talking in the background, the others talking to each other but I wasn't paying attention. I focused on my sister.

"Caroline's been locked up for the past day," she said, speaking louder than the talking in the background. "Turns out she was turned into a vampire like Tyler was. She killed the guy who attacked her but her mother found her and locked her up. Caroline managed to escape and when her mother tried to subdue her she accidently shoved her against a wall too hard."

"Anna," I said, moving to another room because the talking was starting to be too much.

"That's what I thought," said Bonnie with an edge to her voice. "The reason I'm going to talk to her, ask her who else she compelled people to turn."

"What about Caroline?" I asked.

"Elena's trying to console her from the edge of a barrier," she said. "Stefan said he'd be here in a few minutes to take care of things."

I let out a long groan, running a frustrated hand over my head. "This messes a lot of things up," I said. "We had a plan that might work and now it's all coming undone."

"Not necessarily," I heard someone say. I turned back to face the room and it was missing a few figures, they being my dad and Stefan. I didn't like that he had left without us speaking. "We blame it on the Anna girl," he said. "We can make this work in our favour."

"But it defeats the point," said Lexi. "I know what you were trying to do, kid. Get some sort of order in this place, but things like this are the sort of things that mess everything up. My advice, don't try to cover this up."

"We do that and there won't be change," said Mr Fell with a tone of frustration.

"Or it could be the catalyst for that change," said Mrs Lockwood. "Caroline is arrested and tried as if she were just another ordinary human. This isn't murder after all, if anything its involuntary manslaughter."

"Forgive her," said Lee. "She's the only one of us that missed the part where she killed the person who turned her."

"Self-defence," said Mr Lockwood, and it sounded as if he hated himself for saying those words. "She had to be killed before she turned."

"So we call this in?" asked Mr Fell.

"It's the only thing we can do," said Mr Lockwood.

I didn't like it and I didn't like that there was a thought in my head that this was my fault, knowing that events hadn't conspired themselves in this route in the series worked against me. I shook off the thought, shifts were just a work of chance, things had to change before I was born to make sure I was born. I couldn't let myself fall into that depressive trap.

"Mike?" I heard on the other side. I pressed my phone and put it on speaking.

Jeremy, Mr Fell and Mr Lockwood were on their phones, making various phones calls. I watched, trying to think but coming up with nothing. This was more politics than anything, and I wasn't good at politics. My objective had been to make sure the policy of this town changed and things were heavily on their way to becoming so, but before that objective I had wanted to neutralise Anna.

"Bonnie," I said. "I'm closer. I'll deal with Anna."

"Okay," she agreed, readily. She probably wanted to be with Caroline.

I put my phone away, suddenly invigorated and my earlier fatigue gone. I gave Enzo a minute gesture and the man walked my way. Jeremy too followed.

"You look like a man with a plan," Enzo drawled.

"I'll need your help with something," I said, with a coldness to my voice. "I need Anna's blood."

"What for?" asked Jeremy. I didn't like that he was coming along, but to I couldn't exactly tell him what to do. In the hierarchy of people who could control his actions, I ranked the lowest.

"We're opening the tomb," I said. "Using whatever she wants in there against her."

"The same tomb that has whatever Damon wants," asked Enzo. I gave a nod, but stopped just as I reached the car. Enzo was frowning, a calculating glint appearing in his eyes.

"You're not going to kill the vampires in there," I said. It seemed the type of thing he would do to further torture Damon, taking away his freedom had been one thing but taking away that which he loved.

"Wasn't planning to," said Enzo.

I didn't drive, which meant we were going a lot faster as Enzo took the wheel. It gave me time to focus. Anna was still working towards the objective of getting what she wanted. She had killed three of the people I loved and gotten away lightly for that. It was time to show her pain the likes she had inflicted upon me, Bonnie, Elena, Tyler, Caroline and all the other people who had lost their lives or the lives of loved ones.

We first stopped at the house picking up Emily's grimoire before going to Grams' house. I took a breath as we approached the door, remembering that when I was angry doors had the proclivity to burst open. I lit the basement lights as we entered.

"Our jailer returns," said Damon as we came into the basement. There were three circles of salt in the room, each with its own prisoner. Damon on the left, Anna and then Ben hanging at the far right, his arms crossed as though he was cold and his skin looking paler.

"Please tell me you're here to get me out," Ben said. "I told you I'm not voluntarily working with her."

I ignored the both of them, instead focusing on Anna. "Motus." Anna's neck snapped. I flicked my hand, muttering a spell under my breath and the line of salt broke dissipated.

Enzo didn't need instruction, he grabbed one of the jars in the corner of the basement, atop of which was a knife and cut the girls wrist. Blood let out.

"There has to be a greater plan than revenge," said Jeremy.

"She won't give us information without us having leverage," I said. "The leverage we have is in that tomb."

"Wait, you're opening it?" Damon asked, suddenly his interest piqued.

"Before you ask. I won't let all those vampires out," I said.

"Not all of them," he said. "Just one. Katherine," he said with hope in his voice. "She looks just like Elena. You won't miss her."

I stopped. Katherine caught? That didn't fit into what I knew of her. Katherine was like Anna only better. She always had a counterplan. Always had someone on the inside in case she was caught. Always. She wouldn't be in some tomb. I was sure of that.

"Katherine isn't in the tomb," I said, the certainty evident in my voice.

I saw Damon's world fall apart and as he stood and a large grin plastered across Enzo's face.

He'd just gotten his revenge.

I said a spell and the salt re-aligned itself. Having power certainly made things easier. I could open the Tomb. I could break down the door if I wanted to with the power granted to me by the talisman, not only that but breaking down the spell itself. But I wouldn't. I would disable it with the spell Grams had taught me.

Five minutes of uninterrupted access.

I scaled the stairs and went to the kitchen, finding a large glass and half filling it with water and placing a toothpick with a cork on one point within. I got a painting brush meant for pastries but neither I nor Bonnie were likely to use it so it was the perfect tool. Enzo put the jar to my right and I got to work. I dunked the brush into the jar of blood and began working on the symbol: Two concentric circles with four lines going inward, meeting at the centre of the inner circle. I placed the half-filled glass at the centre.

I started the first spell: Drawing power from the blood of the vampire to store into the glass and water. It wouldn't last. Vampires weren't that high scale on the power front but still that power was greater than that offered by the elements, particularly for enchanting objects. The lines began to dry, glowing a low red before the darkened to black and my symbol disappeared.

First part done and now the second: I took a breath and poured some of the blood into the water. I started the tracking spell, finding what the blood was most linked to. Various threads lines up in front of me, each with a different feel from the others. I ran my hands over the stronger, a thick thread interwoven with others that made it an unbreakable mess. I follow the thread until a picture came into my mind: Anna in a circle, unconscious. Not the thread I was looking for. I followed the second strongest thread, it too was like the first though it looked a bit frayed, wearing around the edges. I followed it, moving until the picture came in my mind of darkness.

That would be the thread.

I pulled power into the thread, fixing it in place before I pulled back.

The side with the cork pointed in a direction when I was done and when I tried to move it, the thing was unmovable.

"You're really getting better at the whole magic thing," said Jeremy. "That looked complicated."

"It's getting easier," I said. "We should get to the Tomb. Make this fast. I think Bonnie would literally kill me if she found out I was opening the Tomb, even temporarily. We follow the point of the toothpick and find the Tomb."

Enzo drove and the look that he had just had me in chills. The drive took us a distance out of town and we didn't even make it all the way before we were forced to make the route on foot, the trees too thick for a car to pass through. Our trip ended with over a ruined building which had been made of stone.

The compass spun wildly but there was nothing reminiscent of a tomb around us.

"It's supposed to be here," I said.

"We'll search the area," said Jeremy. "It's a tomb, there should be some secret entrance underground or something."

The two disappeared and I was left looking at the spinning toothpick. It was a few minutes watching the pick spin wildly before something caught my eye, just at the edge of my vision I thought I had seen something. I turned and there was nothing there. I couldn't help thinking that there was something wrong.

I started as Jeremy appeared beside me. "Found an entrance. Enzo's clearing it out."

I gave an absent nod, my eyes still scanning my peripheral vision. There was nothing there.

"You're dealing well," I said. Jeremy grinned.

He waved it off. "Feeding regularly helps," he said. "Still want to drain you but seeing you snap Anna's neck, a deeper part of me knows that would be a bad idea."

I smiled a little, at least there was a good part from all this. Jeremy had found his skin in a manner of speaking. "What about my dad?" I asked, after some silence. "How is he dealing with all this?"

"About as good as I am," said Jeremy. "But he doesn't trust himself too much. He seems to think that he might mistakenly attack you or Bonnie."

"Is that the reason he hasn't talked to me?" I asked.

Jeremy shrugged, but he was shifting in a way that I was not used to. "We don't talk much," said Jeremy. "Your father's quiet. But he has been asking me about you, about the whole post kidnapping thing. How you've been acting."

"So that where Bonnie got the whole therapist idea," I said, my annoyance evident in my tone. "You'd think as someone who got his head snapped he would be doing the same thing," I sniped.

Jeremy raised his hands in surrender. "Path's cleared," said Jeremy and he led the way. We walked a small distance before there was a drop in the ground, a spiralling staircase that went down. I got out my phone and got on the flashlight, illuminating the stairs that might kill me if I slipped.

Two minutes, Jeremy probably taking it slow on my account, before we entered the small dark circular space. The door was to our left, made of solid stone and with a pentagram drawn on it.

"The pentagram is a bit of an overstatement," I muttered, looking the thing over. I flicked my hand, hitting the door with a Spell of Motion and it didn't budge.

"Why's that?" asked Enzo.

"It makes no sense it being on the door," I told him. "It helps for channelling and unless Emily stood on the door while casting the spell, it shouldn't be there."

"Maybe someone etched it on," said Jeremy. "People won't stray close to it, being afraid of hexes."

"Maybe," I said with a shrug. I closed my eyes, palm facing the door, and I reached into the power of the—

_No. _

My eyes snapped open, my heart beating against my chest. I looked around, searching for the voice that a moment ago had been so distinct.

"Something wrong?" I heard Jeremy ask and I shook my head.

I took a breath and reached into the power of the talisman, letting it fill me up and fuel me. "_Phesmatos_, _Fumos Extas," _I said with, ending it with a flick of the hand. The door ground open until it revealed the darker depths.

"Right," I said, giving the glass of water to Enzo. "You have five minutes before the spell reaffirms."

"You're not going in?" asked Jeremy.

"I have blood. Those vampire have been there as long as the Salvatores have been vampires. I don't want to chance it."

Enzo snorted. "You choose now to be afraid," he muttered. "Well, come along," he said to Jeremy. "You'll do the heavy lifting while I hold this."

They walked in, leaving me to the narrow light from my phone. I got that feeling again. I looked around, casting my light, looking for the eyes I felt on my back. There was nothing.

Then there suddenly was.

A woman was standing looking at me, wearing a frown of her face. I knew her, having seen her photographs.

"Emily."

She smiled and moved her mouth. I heard whispers, the soft whispers I had heard the first time I had tried to channel my element. I couldn't understand those words but they were insistent, grave in their tone. She seemed to notice I couldn't understand a thing she was saying before taking one last look at the door leading into the tomb and disappeared.

"Done." I was started by Enzo's words as he walked out of the tomb. Jeremy followed an instant later, carrying a grey figure over his shoulder.

I flicked a hand and the door snapped shut.

"We'll have to take care of this at some point," I said. "I'm sure not all the people in there are worth imprisoning."

"Present matters first," said Enzo. "What are we going to do with her?"

"Place her in a boundary spell in front of Anna," I said. "Give Anna blood while the woman watches in a state of perpetual thirst." We had been scaling up the stairs when they stopped, looking at me with questioning expression. "I watch a lot of movies," I said, defensively. "I've seen psychological warfare."

"Cinema has taken a frightening turn in recent centuries," Enzo muttered as he led us to the car.

My phone buzzed as we came to the house, a message: _Cassandra Maxwell's a vampire. _

"This is getting too much," I said.

"Another one?" asked Jeremy.

I nodded. "Another founding family," I said. "Cassandra Maxwell."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Jeremy. "Why would she keep turning the founder's kid?"

"What we're going to find out," I said. She was awake as we arrived and when she saw her cargo I knew we had made the right choice. "Well," I said, pretty sure I was strutting. "It seems I got you by the balls, metaphorically speaking."

"It seems you do," said Anna. She tried to put on a cold façade but I could see through it. "I'm guessing you want something if you went through the trouble of breaking a two hundred year old spell for her."

"What's your plan with turning the founder's kids?" I asked.

"The founder's kids were never in my radar," she said. "The Gilberts were the only thing important to me."

"Why?" asked Jeremy.

"John Gilbert took my mother away from me. I swore on that day she would be awoken by Gilbert blood."

"Cheery," muttered Enzo.

"How are you planning to escape your binding?" I knew for sure she knew the way out. She had lived long enough that she knew the loopholes to magic, she was planning something. "I know you have an impulse to lie right now, but seriously. Don't. Because every impulse in my being is telling me to take away your mother," it was a guess, "as you took away my grandmother."

"Ben is connected to you and your sister," she said. "Linked by magic. Your boundary is rudimentary, unable to distinguish between individuals when a sufficient enough link exists. Since the link goes only one way the boundary has been fighting his tries to exit, but it's close to breaking. So you really are clairsentient?"

"Yes," I said. At some point this would get me in trouble, but right now it would turn people away from working against me.

"So what now?" she asked.

"Where's Katherine?"

"I don't know," she answered.

"The last time you saw her, was she with a witch?" Anna shook her head. "You still want to find her?" I asked Damon.

"I want a drink," said Damon. "I want to kill. I want blood and a lot of it."

"Then until you get that under control you'll stay locked up," I said. I wasn't even thinking much, plans were forming in my mind and immediately I was working their way out of my mouth. "I feel compelled to ask. Was it you who turned the founder's kid?"

Damon gave me a dispassionate glare.

"Anyone else hear yes?" asked Enzo.

"I did," said Jeremy.

"Me too," I added.

"Yep," said Ben.

"That poses a problem," I said, scratching my head. "If it was Anna it was simpler. But right now that are forces that might want to work against Damon being imprisoned." Stefan being at the forefront but there was also Enzo. The need for revenge only went so far before it faded and he would want his friend again.

I looked at Anna, at this point she was the surest bet. "It's time for you to decide," I said. "Which life do you hold most precious. Your mother's or yours."

Her jaw clenched, she'd probably ran the line of my thoughts and coming to the right conclusion.

"Name your terms," she said.

"You claim that compelling people to turn the founder's kids was a part of your plan," I said. "You'll get arrested if everything goes as planned, a few years taken off in your immortal life. In return, we feed your mother some blood and send her off to explore the new world."

"If I don't do that, then what happens?"

"You still get arrested on three counts of murder," I said. "Not don't have much to lose truth be admitted. But your mother, whose life has been torture for the past few centuries, finally gets something of a life."

She was quiet, but then again the entire room was quiet. They watched the play between the both of us, where power was leaning heavily towards one side and the other was being strong armed to comply. I felt a bit scared of myself, that I was so good at pushing buttons, that I too could the things people loved against them with an effectiveness of a villain. But it was needed in this world.

The game I was embroiled in went further than just casting spells of protection. I had to write myself as a clear threat, one that people would think twice before taking on, and since I wasn't all powerful yet, I had to show power through being ruthless.

"How do I know you'll pull through with your end of the deal?" she asked. I internally grinned. That question usually preluded an agreement.

"That law about vampires having eidetic memory is true, yes?"

"More we can order our thoughts well enough that it's easier to remember," Enzo corrected.

"Either way, we'll give her my number. I'll borrow it to you for two hours every day between five and seven. The both of you can talk whatever mother and daughter stuff you want to discuss, but you even come close to discussing escape and I take that little privilege away."

"You've taught this through," Enzo muttered.

I shook my head. "I'm making this up as I go along."

"Imagine if you put a little thought behind your actions," said Jeremy.

"Imagine that."

Anna grinned a little, her eyes sparkling with something. "I remember you sister saying something to me when the roles were reversed," she said. "That I was propping myself up, making sure I cast a large shadow behind my small form. Why do I get the distinct feeling that you're doing the same thing?"

My only answer was a shrug.

"I'll play along," Anna said. "I'm immortal. However long you'll keep me imprisoned I can bare. You have a deal."

I actually grinned. "Awesome."

Now was the hard part. Getting the council to change. Things were bad, but Damon had actually done us a favour. If he went after all the founder's kid, then the upper tier council would be on our side.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Five

Job done and the sun would be rising in a matter of hours. Pearl, the woman had named herself before threatening to bring destruction on us for imprisoning her daughter, had left hours ago, carting out of town before the sun would rise over the horizon. I knew she would be back—a mother's love and all that—but I was already thinking about contingencies, with the leaps I was making with my grasp of boundaries it would only be a matter of time before I was able to craft a large one around the town; the logistics would be an issue but I still had time to expand on that.

Pearl's task wouldn't be easy seeing as she was going to have to recruit a witch and a few other vampires, but when that came I was sure everyone in town would be equipped to handle it.

There was a clunk and I jerked awake, a steaming mug of coffee had been put in front of me by Jeremy. I quickly thanked him before chugging down the warm liquid, feeling it warming me up inside and making my mind slower, calling me towards sleep. I shook my head. It would only be a few minutes before the caffeine kicked in and I would be awake for a few more hours to follow.

"Can you do the sage thing?" said Jeremy as he took a seat in front of me.

I absently nodded, pulling out a sage bush and lighting it on fire. I said the spell and the smell wafted through the room. I looked at Jeremy, fully taking him in for the first time as a vampire; he seemed a lot more at ease than I was used to. The way he moved was no longer restrained but free flowing. I wanted to say he was more comfortable in his skin, quite the opposite of Tyler who was afraid of the people he might hurt.

But then again, Jeremy had been my friend as long as Bonnie and Elena had been friends, and even locked up the facsimile had felt a calling towards the supernatural. Perhaps it had been the reason I had been a fan of the Harry Potter series, a liking Jeremy had soon adapted. For us, the both of us, getting into the world could not be seen as a curse.

Maybe that was the difference between Tyler and Jeremy. The latter fully embraced this world and its dangers while the former was more scared of himself and thus unable to accept himself enough to be comfortable and be in control.

**SNAP**

I jerked into myself, aware that I had drifted again. Jeremy was looking at me with a smirk.

"Best part about being a vampire," he said. "I don't get tired in the traditional sense."

"Best part about a witch," I said. "The limits to what I can't do are untested."

"You just had to put it in there that you're omnipotent, didn't you?" he said with a large grin.

I grinned. "It's one of those things worth bragging about," I said. "You wanted to talk?"

Jeremy sobered. "Elena's a doppelganger," he said, not a question but a statement. I nodded. "What does that mean?"

"I told you I can channel power from the elements, right?" Jeremy nodded. "It's not the only thing I can channel. Power comes from just about anything that is of Nature or repetitive," I told him. "Comet work as they appear after a given period; the sun because it rises each morning; the moon, particularly the full moon, because of the once a month thing; and witches because they have children and thus the line continues.

"A doppelganger is a shadow self, an image of a person in feature alone. I don't think that something like that come out of the blue. It doesn't just happen. It has to start somewhere. But it has a repetitive nature to it."

I stayed quiet, watching Jeremy as he did the mental work. He didn't take too long before he reached the solution.

"She can be channelled," said Jeremy. I nodded. "Does that mean she's in danger? That she could be killed because of being a doppelganger?"

"Yes," I said bluntly. "The real power is in her blood, but some spells require a lot of power and the life of a doppelganger might be a requirement."

Jeremy let out a sigh, running a hand over his hair before letting his head fall on the coffee table. "If someone were to be coming for her, what would we be dealing with?"

I shrugged. "Anyone. Spells can do just about anything, but they need power. Elena offers that power."

"That doesn't sit too well with me," said Jeremy, frowning. "I suddenly feel a lot more paranoid about everyone. Stefan. Lexi. Lee. Enzo. Damon. Anna. All of them are at least a century old. They know more than we do. They're stronger than us. I can't help but think that one of them might have some sort of plan that requires my sister's death." Jeremy frowned, his features scrunched. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked at me with pity. "Is this what it feels like to have your ability?" he asked. "Constant case of paranoia?"

I nodded. "But I'm alleviating that," I told him. "Making sure that I have a lot of allies when shit really starts to happen."

Jeremy snorted. "As if it hasn't happened already. So that's why you didn't just throw Damon under the bus? Because of wanting him as an ally. Or is it Stefan?"

"I wouldn't mind both the Salvatores, really," I said. "Damon, as you've seen, isn't afraid to kill. I think he's the only one of us that can do that without losing sleep. That's something worth having on the force that protects this town."

Jeremy nodded, his features still reflecting thought. "I don't know if you've noticed this but he'd sooner be the one killing the townsfolk than protecting them."

"I'm still working on a way to curb that," I said.

"Yeah?"

"Emily has a real gift for enchanting objects," I said. "In her grimoire is one set of spells that, when combined, can make it so that a normal person cannot be killed by a supernatural. I was thinking about incorporating something like that into a boundary around the entire town, but giving it more thought it seems like there's a lot of room for abuse with that system. So I turned my thoughts to Linking spells and how they work.

"Generally speaking Linking spells seem like the simplest form of magic. You imagine a line between two objects, feed it with power and set the function of that link. But it's also the most versatile form of magic, specifically if you can make it contingent. I'm thinking enchanting a ring with a Linking spell, making it so that if Damon kills someone, that pain is inflicted on him instead."

"Sounds like a good enough plan," said Jeremy. "What's the problem?"

"Theoretically Linking spells are simple," I told him. "But in practise they require experience, especially if you're going to be adding effects to the threads. Bonnie's been tackling links between everything but she's only been able to do rudimentary links, ones where power flows one way. What I'm thinking about is too complex for our current skill range."

"So Damon stays in the fridge for the time being. I don't think he'll like you after he gets out."

"He won't," I said softly. Matter of fact he might try to kill me. I took a breath and waved his comment off. "I'll deal with that when we have to release him, and since Stefan isn't asking about him, I say we don't have to worry about it for a while."

Jeremy was shaking his head. "I feel like we're putting too much off," he said. "That Pearl lady comes to mind."

"Like I told you, hopefully the town will have united when she thinks about coming back."

"Wishful thinking," Jeremy muttered. "Especially with how Bonnie's close to the situation. You understand that if this goes bad she'll flip out, right? She might go on the attack."

"I'll stand by her," I said, meaning it. If Caroline died or the events that followed this revealed themselves to be unfair, then I was sure Bonnie and I would be the catalyst to the war between humans and the supernatural.

Jeremy sighed. "When do you think Enzo will call us about everything that's going on?"

My only answer was a shrug.

Enzo, older than Jeremy, had volunteered to taking Anna to the police station where Caroline was being kept and Bonnie was. I had thought I would be called to build a boundary around their respective cells but for the time being such things were being putt off as the meetings proceeded. Matters were moving faster than I had thought they would, but I liked it. If this whole mess could be sorted without violence I would be happy.

It would have been nice if I had been invited though, I thought with chagrin.

"Do you trust him?" Jeremy asked, removing me from my musings. When I shot him a questioning look he said, "We don't know anything about him except that he's Damon's friend."

"He hasn't given me much reason to not trust him," I said. "Not to mention that he's puppy-esque in a way. I ask him to do something and he does it. It's like having my own vampire servant. It's cool, don't get me wrong, but there's also the responsibility behind it and I don't get why he's doing it."

I didn't know much about Enzo's personality. I knew he had a thing for revenge and he was willing to die so that he could get it, but further than that I didn't know his personality traits. I took a breath and called back memories of him and his actions, and the only thing I could come up with was that he loved Damon. He had forgiven the man even after leaving him, which meant he would do that even here, it was only a matter of when.

Okay, I thought. So he's willing to toy with Damon, lock him up and postpone him getting the one thing he wants the most but isn't willing to kill him. Was it only love or was there something else?

Damon had arrived after Enzo to the whole torture business, the man had been alone most of the time and then there had been Damon. They had bonded over something horrible and a bond like that could not be easily broken. Was it that bond or was it that Enzo was afraid of being alone?

If he killed Damon, then he would be killing the only vampire he knew.

Did that mean, then, that him being around me was to alleviate that loneliness? That he was surrounding himself with people because he was afraid of that loneliness? Or was he still afraid of the people at Whitmore and thus wanted the measure of protection we could offer him?

**SNAP**

I jerked from my thoughts.

"You should note," said Jeremy. "I insulted you five times before that. Where were you?"

"Think about the mystery that is Enzo and hoping to figure him out," I said.

"I thought you just got the solutions," he said.

"It's a bit more complicated than that," I said and didn't explain. I glanced at my watch and it was three in the morning, at least two more hours before the sun would be rising and I would have to get started on the rings. Hopefully Bonnie would be back to help me with those. "Do me a favour," I said. "There should be salt in the cupboard. Can you superspeed four mounds at the corners."

"Why?"

"Practising my boundaries," I said.

Jeremy stood. "You're lucky I like moving fast," he said before disappearing. I counted three seconds before he was in front of me again, wearing a dopey grin. "Done."

The spell was considerably harder for some reason as I did it, grabbing on to four individual mounds of salt at the same time and carrying them in straight lines. It needed a balance that was hard to match, pouring power in equal measure in each of the four lines while still focusing on gathering power from my link to the talisman.

"How long was I gone?" I asked when the four line had closed into a rectangle.

"Fifteen minutes," said Jeremy.

"It took me ten when I was doing this for Tyler," I said. "But then again that room was a little smaller." Jeremy shot me a questioning look but I waved that off. "Aren't you more curious at the function of this particular boundary does?" I asked.

"Sure."

"I want to test out that loophole Anna told us about. The whole links confusing the boundary."

"So you made it keep you inside?" I nodded. "Don't you have to be linked to something?" he asked.

"I already am. Bonnie linked me to the talisman yesterday. Right now it hidden at my dad's place and kept within its own boundary spell. A countermeasure that doesn't hold much weight if, since its linked to me, it can be taken out," I said. I stood and looked at the floor, a line of salt traced the boundaries of the room. I walked to the doorway leading from the kitchen to the living room and stopped short of the boundary.

This was the first time a boundary had ever really kept me with in a place.

"Jer? Have you been stopped by a threshold yet?"

"Yeah. At the Lockwood place." Jeremy suddenly appeared beside me.

"What does it feel like?"

"Smashing your face on a pane of glass," he said.

"No pain, right?" Jeremy shook his head. I took a breath and touched the where I thought there would be boundary. I felt it, something solid against my hand. There was no heat or lack-thereof coming from it. In deed it was as though there was nothing there and yet I could feel it holding me back.

I pushed and felt nothing.

"Salt moved," said Jeremy.

I looked down and couldn't note the difference. "I'll take your word for it," I said.

I gave another push, this time putting my full weight behind it. Still the boundary didn't move but this time, with my feet sliding back and me staring at the line of salt, I might have noticed one grain of salt apart from the general concentration which was in a thin line.

"I feel sorry that you miss so much detail," Jeremy said.

"Shut up," I muttered. "The loophole thing is real. But it's not easy to break with physical force."

"Maybe for you," said Jeremy and he flexed. "But not with these muscles."

"Put those scrawny things down before you poke someone's eyes out." I flicked my hand and dispelled the boundary. The salt broke apart. I looked at Jeremy.

"Not going to do that," he said.

"How do you know I was going to ask you something?"

"I've known you all of my life," he said. "And now my brain processes information faster and my eyes can catch micro expressions. I can read you like a book."

"Is that what we're going to do now?" I asked. "Keep bragging about our various abilities?"

"I was hoping there'd be a lead up," he said. "But all this will stop when you admit that being a vampire is cooler."

"What? You can't walk in daylight. Being a witch is so much better."

"I could probably snap your neck right now if I wanted," he said.

"Me too and I wouldn't even need to touch you," I returned.

"I'll have these boyish good looks for the next eternity," he said.

"Okay, you get that. But for that next eternity, I'll have the rugged good looks that come with being in my mid-twenties," I told him.

Jeremy stopped. "Do you age slower than normal people?" Jeremy asked and there was an expectant quality to his voice, almost a longing.

"No," I said and there was disappointment. "But there are ways of doing it. I'm going to find them out. Stretch them so thin that I'll be as close to immortal as I go gone without losing access to Nature."

Jeremy smiled. His smile filled with relief. "Okay. Maybe being a witch isn't so bad."

"Damn straight."

Our phones buzzed: _Need help with boundary for the prisons, _said the message from Bonnie. _Bring rings and grimoires. More stuff to be discussed that needs a witch's insight. _

_Be there in a few minutes. _

"You get the message?" I asked Jeremy. He nodded. "Looks like things are going well."

"The newly-paranoid side of me is just waiting for that one thing to go wrong and mess up this still in process truce."

"The only way to get used to it is to come up with as many contingencies as possible," I said. "I usually just take a minute, think of everything that might go around and ways ensure they don't happen."

"It must help to have clairsentience," he said.

I shook my head. "Not as much you think," I said before moving through the room, looking for the grimoires. They were stashed on the floor above in Bonnie's room and as I was coming back down I noticed something I had long not thought about: The door.

I felt, even though there was a need to move, an intense curiosity.

"This won't take a minute," I muttered to myself before reaching into the power afforded to me by the Bennett talisman and saying a spell. The door relented, popping open with an audible quality, and opening a fraction.

The door didn't have much weight as I pushed it, letting the light from the hall stream into the room. I couldn't make out much detail, but there seemed to be candle holds at the end of the room, the kind which held up three candles. I focused and said the flame spell, watching as one of the candles came to life, letting a soft red light spread over the room.

I repeated the spell two more times and more light filled the room. It was quite large, one side with a short cupboard from which I could see a large amount of jars filled with a dark liquids, above which there were a few more candles. I lit them, spreading more light and the room becoming clearer. The middle had a rectangular slab rising from the ground, various symbols drawn along the sides of it. I lit the left side of the room and the light illuminated a small table with three small books.

Three titles: _Liberating the Mind; Capturing the Mind; Mysteries of the Mind. _

I took another look at the room and found myself confused. For most of my life I had never noticed the room but both Bonnie and I had seen it after Grams had died, which meant it had been cloaked. The question of why was what confused me.

Nothing here was worth hiding.

I went to the other side of the room, looking over the dark jars and seeing within what I thought might have been blood.

Okay, that was worth hiding, especially since from lack of telling us about blood being channelled, I had thought Grams had looked down on its use.

But this went against it.

"Mike?" I heard Jeremy say. "Micah, where are you?"

I frowned as I walked towards the door. The moment I stepped out, Jeremy was in front of me. Looking at me with concern.

"You disappeared on me. Where you in the wall?" he asked, looking intently behind me.

"There's a room behind me," I told him. I took two steps back and I was in the room. Jeremy looked at me, an intense frown on him before he stepped forward and touched the precipice of the doorway.

Boundary spell, I thought. But hadn't I opened the way for at least five minutes? It was something to be thought about, the greater mystery of this room, but the fact I had completely forgotten about it was something I didn't like. I pulled out my phone and made a reminder set for three hours, reminding me to further investigate the room. I also made a mental note to tell Bonnie about the room, writing in the description of the reminder of my mental not to tell Bonnie about the room.

I grabbed the grimoires and went out of the room.

"Weird," said Jeremy. "You're really getting a lot more powerful."

"I know," I said with more confidence in the words than I really felt. There were more powerful people out there that was something I didn't want to forget. Because if I did, it would be my downfall.

"Let's go," I said. "But first we talk to Ben. That I've kept him imprisoned this long does not reflect too well on me."

"It's scary that I get that," said Jeremy as we moved.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty Six

"I've watched X-men," I said. "I know I should be against this."

Jeremy chuckled. The adults around us were not so amused. Perhaps there was symbolism in where we met, because on a cartoon I had watched once, there had been a system in place that said no one could be arrested if they seek sanctuary in a church. The mechanism might have been real once upon a time, but the impulse to check had never hit me.

If it truly had been real, then I could see the appeal of all of us coming together at out town's main church.

The church was quite filled with all of us who knew. All the vampires sans, Anna, Damon, Lexi and Lee, Mr Lockwood and the contingent of the witches comprising of myself and Bonnie. The supernaturals sat on the same general sides of the benches, the newer amongst, Cassandra, seating at furthest away from the general human populace, Enzo, Stefan and my father sitting close to her.

The human contingent sat generally away from us. I had counted when I'd come in and they were twenty five people strong, all families I had read off the list, most of whom were at least twenty. Most had disagreeing looks as their eyes ran over us, more so now that I had made the comment.

Pastor Young stood at the dais, looking at me with an expression I couldn't quite read.

"I remember watching that with April," the pastor said. "I can't say I see the comparison."

"In summary Magneto said, 'Registration was the first step before outright genocide," I said. "He lived through the Nazi regime so I'll take his word for it."

"Magneto the fictional character?" asked a woman, Claire Rigby. She sat beside her husband, a quiet man who worked as a butcher of all thing, Michael.

"Yes," I said, deadpanned.

"The _fictional character?_"

I didn't answer that, instead I focused on the thread of the conversation. "Aren't we losing more on this whole registration matter? There'll be a book out there which has all of our identities. Something like that is a danger to have around."

"This matter has been discussed with your father and friends," said Pastor Young. "Rudy told us of the lengths magic can go and he said a way might be found to ensure the book's safety."

"There's still the fact that there book's still out there and as long as it's out there it can be found," said Bonnie. "Magic isn't infallible."

"Not to mention the obvious fact," I said. "For a long time the council has been hunting people like us. One of them gets the wrong idea and they have a list they can tick off of who we are."

"Something that's already been discussed," said Alicia Maxwell, Cassandra's mother. "This is safer. Making it easier for us to find culprits if ever a human is killed."

I heard a hitched breath.

"Let's not forget that all of you are dangerous," Claude said.

"So does anyone with a gun," said Jeremy with a poorly restrained grin planted on his face. It took me a second and a part of me also wanted to Claude to say it, it would be a perfect parallel.

"The reason it's illegal to own a gun without a licence," said Brody Shield, an older gentleman with dark skin. I turned and I could see the slight stretch. It was a heavy deviation from the weight of the conversation but it brought a measure of light to a very dark time.

"This isn't a joke," said Claude, his tone of exasperation. There were a few confused looks shot his way. "And honestly, Brody. At least they're kids, I understand it from them."

"This level of immaturity is the reason they shouldn't be here," said Rebecca Ashton.

"They're the only witches we have," spoke Stefan. "Much of what we talked about can't be done without them."

"Then we should move forward," said Pastor Young. "Discuss these warding enchantments that should be put up in the—"

"We haven't finalised anything on the whole registration thing though," I interrupted. "I get that Bonnie and I aren't exactly the oldest people here. But isn't a bit disrespectful that there witches were overlooked in these discussion that are kept being alluded to?"

"Already asking for control," I heard a mutter. I turned slightly and so it had come from David. "This is a mistake. All of this. We're talking to killer."

Another hitched breath from somewhere in the room.

"Says a police officer," Enzo drawled. "Isn't it your trade to deal death?" the man asked.

"I protect," David quickly answered.

"So you say," Enzo said. "But only you know how much you enjoy the power that come from pulling the trigger."

"We move away from the point," my father said. "Which is to finalise the details of the truce. The matter of the registration is one that has been conclude, Micah. It's settled. It will be done."

There was a cold quality that spoke to my inner child, telling me that this wasn't the time to rebel, that my father was deadly serious. That part of me told me to roll over and bare my belly, but another side of me fought against it. I'd been miffed when they had just looked over me when it had come to the meeting, not even thinking to invite me. I had been the one hit by that bout of inspiration, who came up with the plan. I was a player in all this just as any other and yet my physical age spoke more than my mental prowess.

The look I shot my father was a scowl, angry but I didn't direct my anger. I just let it churn inside me, letting it toil. If they wanted to play it like this, make it so I seemed in consequential, then I was going to make it harder for them in turn.

My father flinched visibly before turning to Pastor Young.

The man took a breath and continued. "Boundary spells," the man said, "are the same form of power that kept Mayor Lockwood in place after his transformation. We are told that they can keep any manner of creature and they will be used as protection to our public infrastructure. Schools, churches, the town hall and the police stations."

"What about the homes everyone here?" asked David. "Don't they deserve to be protected?"

"I'm not too sure anyone here would just invite us to their homes," muttered Mr Fell with a particular look at David.

"That protection is pretty thin," said Claire. "With all the abilities you have at your disposal there might be work arounds."

"As with any spell," I muttered aloud. Bonnie shot me a confused look but something on my expression must have told enough because her confusion turned to worry. She turned to look at dad for a second before she turned to look back at me.

"Nevertheless from what I've seen spells are stronger than being tricked into inviting someone," said Claire.

"Perhaps something could be worked out on that account," said Pastor Young with a question lined look at my father. "Spreading protection to as many people as possible?"

My father nodded without sparing us a look. The fire in my stomach burned with a fire to it. I took a large breath, aware that this small action had gather some attention from Jeremy, Enzo and Bonnie.

Enzo was grinning.

"It's childish of me," I spoke. "Really it is and I know this. I also know it doesn't speak well to rest of you of my aptitude. But why don't I just walk out now if I'm not consulted about anything? When something that's directly linked to my sister and I's ability, delegated to my father?"

"Micah," my father warned. "Remember why we're doing this," he said.

I remembered, that there were threats out there that would come here. But did that mean we just went along with whatever they wanted?

I didn't like this. Not one bit.

I stood.

"Whatever," I said, handing over the grimoires to Bonnie. "To stay here is an insult. I have better things to be working on."

I took a glancing sift of the looks my way, many of which ranged from imperceptibility to disgust. These were adults, I realised as I walked towards the door. They would never take a child seriously.

The moment I neared the large doors swung open without my meaning, garnering gasps from those who had not seen magic in play. I ignored them, happy that I hadn't broken them off their hinges. They closed with a loud thud the moment I was out.

The cold managed to pass through my jacket without relent as I walked, moving without direction. Before this, I had enchanted a barrier around Anna's cell. It was something that was becoming minor work, but I had showed some of the deputies that a Latin phrase on my account could hold a vampire of all things.

I looked at the church before shoving my hands in my pockets and beginning to move without much direction, letting my thoughts flow in an unguided stream. Perhaps storming out like a child hadn't been the best thing to do, it certainly had gone against my point. But how long was I supposed to put up with. The thing that hit me worst was the hypocrisy in it. I couldn't take part in a meeting and yet they were intrusting me with their protection?

I let out a breath in a huff.

"Adults are stupid," I found myself muttering to myself. But then my words hit me….wouldn't I be an adult? I shook my head. It must have something to do with hanging around with people in their teenage years.

I spent fifteen minutes just walking around, paying attention to nothing and feeling out around me. I firmly ignored the power of the earth and instead reached out to the called air around me, hoping even for a sliver of power. But there came nothing, so instead I chose refocus. I close my eyes and felt for the connections around me. I grabbed on the power of the talisman, a mental hand taking it in before becoming bored and moving on; I felt nothing.

I quickly said the Tracking spell and a well of threads opened up to me. I took hold of the strongest thread and fed power into it, strengthening it before I could move along to its end. It started to fray from the weight of me pulling along, trying to find its edge and I pooled more power in the thread until I got close enough that an image resolved itself in my mind; the church from a distance, cars parked along-side it. I pushed more power and the image zoomed in, cutting through the walls and showing me an over image of the church.

I zoomed in, getting a clear image of Bonnie and she jolted, quickly looking my way. I felt a quick power rush over the thread before I felt a sudden pinch. Was she riding on my spell?

I stopped feeding the thread power and the image started falling apart. But that couldn't be said for the thread. I could still feel power flowing through it.

I pushed power into the thread, pulling myself along it before and watched as the image quickly came into place again. Bonnie was on her phone writing something.

_We need to work on the rings. _

I nodded and walked back to the church, arriving as a majority of the councils were getting into their cars. None paid much attention to me as I walked into the church, most speaking among themselves in soft conversations, most likely redacted because they knew the vampires inside could hear them.

There were still some in the council who had not left. Claude being one, sitting beside his cousin Troy and his wife, Dianne. Beside them was Troy's mother, Alicia and his father, Patrick. Brody too was sitting to one side, watching the entirety of the proceeding with interest I hadn't noticed before. Elena and Matt were no longer sitting but were mingling in between the vampires. The last human was Pastor Young and he looked distinctly uncomfortable.

I walked to the front of the room where Bonnie was sitting on the floor with Emily's grimoire in front of her and a piece of chalk in her hand. I took a seat beside her to see she had already drawn her symbol. We didn't speak as I took the chalk and meticulously drawing my symbol and grabbing a ring from the little bag and putting it in the middle of the circle.

The doors opened and in walked in Lee and Lexi just a few minutes before the sun would rise.

"Right," said Bonnie. "Its tradition that the rules be known. The rings are a form of protection. They're linked to their specific vampire which means even if they are stolen they can't be used by anyone else. The witch who's charmed the ring can also dispel it at with ease."

"Subtle threat," I muttered.

"I'm hoping," said Enzo. "Since I'm the only one who's going to be paying for this, that that little loophole will not ever come into play."

I snorted at that. "I'm sorry, when did _I _say that no one would pay?"

The looks I garnered were, to describe my favourite English term, gobsmacked.

"Enzo, Lexi and Lee paid. I've known Jeremy for all my life so there's a little bit of bias on that side and my father because he's my father, but everyone else?"

"You can't be serious," said Vicki.

"Quite, actually," I said. "This is work. Practising magic is something that takes both skill and prowess. It's not something you just wake up and do. I reiterate, this is wake. To not expect payment that will last each and every one of you eternity is stupid. I like to believe I'm not stupid."

"You are such a vindictive child," muttered Claude. "Is this your attempt at showing us we were wrong with not treating you as an adult?"

"Yes," I said.

"How much?" asked Mr Lockwood.

"Fifty thousand," I said.

"Micah," my sister said shooting me a look. I quickly pulled sage from my pocket and said a quick phrase with my eyes closed and when I had opened them we were being framed by a chalk circle.

I lit the sage.

"Money is useful, Bonnie," I said.

"But these are our friends," she said. "I'm on the cheerleading squad with Cassie."

"Nonetheless at some point we'll need the money," I told her. "I don't really expect you to make Caroline pay, though by all accounts she could, but the others. It's no holds barred."

"What about Vicki. She can't pay that much."

I shrugged. "We can work out some sort of payment plan, and it's not just money. It could be a favour at some point in the future. This is more a play for power than anything, not to mention that our services being free is unsustainable."

"Is this what we're going to do now? Exploit our gifts for cash?"

"Honestly. At this point I'd do anything so I could study magic full time." My eyes were wide for a millisecond as the most iconic idea hit me. The problem with this world was that witches were too scattered. Grams had said when usually a witch gave a spell away then they wanted something in return, something I knew would hinder the advancement of magic than it would aide it. If there was a formal institution for learning magic in place then all that would end and magic would be stretched further.

"I think I want to build Hogwarts," I told Bonnie.

"What?"

"Yeah. I do. I want to build a place that teaches magic to young witches, a place that studies the full extents of magic. I don't think it exists yet. It would be revolutionary."

"And you've been thinking about this all along?" she asked. "Is this the reason you're asking for money in the first place?"

I shook my head. "I'd been asking more for the sake of getting money before, but now that I have a goal in mind it seems the best thing to do."

Bonnie let out a sigh. "They're not going to like us for this," she said. "It's bad enough that there are so many supernaturals in the town, but bringing more it.

"It will help the town grow bigger. There's an upside in that."

"I'm actually excited about that," said Bonnie. "Meeting more witches."

"So the price?"

"Tone it down a little," said Bonnie. "Not everyone in Mystic Falls is rich. Not even the founding families."

"Twenty five?"

"Fifteen," she said. "Then we can invest or something."

"None of us know anything about investing," I said.

"We'll learn."

I sighed, letting out a long breath. "Gathering finances would be so much easier if we jacked the prices up before there was competition," I told her.

"What makes you think there'll be competition?" Bonnie asked.

I gave her a shrug, there was really not much to base the thought on. Witches didn't have the healthiest survival rate in the series, but with the way things had changed so far I couldn't expect that the same could be said now. For one thing it hadn't made that much sense to me that witches had been picked off so easily and with the pattern things were taking on, it looked like this was something that couldn't be said in this universe.

I felt more that saw the glint coming in from the window above, and looking beyond our little circle there was a general sense of discomfort I could see radiating from almost everyone excluding Stefan. But then again he was the only one in the contingent who had a daylight ring. I flicked out my hand, breaking my spell and extinguishing the sage which quickly spread out into the church.

"I've gotten Micah to decrease the amount to fifteen thousand," she said.

Vicki frowned, crossing her hands. "Still unaffordable to some of us," she said. "How do you guys except me to make that much money?"

"You will be working," said Pastor Young. "Your patrols would mean you're an employee of the state. Perhaps a payment plan can be sorted out?" This time he was not looking at my father, instead between Bonnie and me."

I held back the grin threatening to break across my features. It was a small measure of power but it was the respect I wanted.

"It can be worked out," I said. "Something that can be discussed later." There was still the niggling feel of paranoia cloying at my back, telling me that all the vampires were in one place; an explosion that broke away the windows would flood the room with too much sunlight for all of the to survive. "Let's get working on these."

Bonnie nodded and said, "Incendia." Every candle in the room flickered into life. I looked at the scene with a bit of disgruntlement. I had to light each candle and she could just awaken them all. I gave an internal shrug. Maybe that was the perk of having an affinity to fire.

"_Phesmatos," _I started reaching for the fuel from the talisman. The first word Bonnie didn't need as her power was in no way linked to the spirits. She seemed scared of the foothold that link gave the spirits, but beyond Emily briefly appearing to me, there was nothing wrong I could say I felt from using the power of the talisman.

We said the first phrase together, directing power in the symbol on the ground. It glowed a brief gold colour and the ring jerked from its laying position to a stand, slowly beginning to spin. Light streamed in from the window, moving so it found the ring.

Part one was done. The ring was now soaking itself with power from the sun, getting accustomed to element it would protect against. I took at Bonnie's ring and it was moving just as mine, her symbols too glowing.

Our rings stopped.

"Who's first?" asked Bonnie.

My father walked towards her just as Enzo suddenly appeared in front of me. He shot me an unreadable grin.

"What do I have to do?" he asked.

"Blood, make it fall into the circles."

He didn't even give it much thought. Enzo bit into his wrist and pulled back, his mouth coming out coated with blood; his hand balled into a fist and blood felt into the circle. The circle grew bright, the blood moving so that it took the shape of the symbols.

I took a breath and began the second spell.

I reached out in front of me and grabbed the open-ended thread, attaching to the well of power shinning in front of me. I fed power into it, fortifying the thread and making it thicker; as I had done with the threads between the blood and the ring, so too did it happened between Enzo an the ring, only when I felt of the threads connecting to Enzo they were much thicker.

Amplified in a fashion.

Lapis Lazuli had lore of being used in protective talismans. The stone had absorbed daylight before being linked to something that could not survive in direct sunlight. It was the stone's nature to protect. I didn't lose my momentum as I switch from Linking spell to a spell to amplify the natural inclination of the stone. It would protect that which it was linked to from the only threat it knew.

A tired breath left me and I became aware.

The symbol had disappeared and the ring lay in front of me as not nothing had happened. I took it and handed it over to Enzo. The man took it and put it on then he proceeded to put his hand through a beam of sunlight.

Nothing happened.

I grinned. Relief hitting me. I took the piece of chalk and drew another symbol on the ground, pulling a ring from the little bag and placing it within the circle.

I repeated and this time it was Jeremy that accepted the next ring.

Bonnie and I settled into a rhythm. I noted that she was faster with the Linking spell but she hit the hitch where she had to craft a Protection spell, a place where I hit my stride.

I got Lexi after Jeremy, then Tyler. I finished first but Vicki and Cassandra didn't seem to want me to enchant their rings. I couldn't blame them in all honesty.

It took two and a half hours before we were all done and the coffee had entirely left my system. I was almost dead on my feet and with the night before heavily in my mind, I made sure to keep my mouth shut.

There was more speaking after we were done but most of it was over my head. I might have dozed off only to be suddenly awoken by a reminder.

"Bonnie," I said, suddenly awake and with confusion drawn across my features. "We need to get to Grams' before I somehow forget about this."

"Forget about what?" asked Bonnie.

"A room," I told.

"Okay," said Bonnie, looking at me with a bored expression. "What about this room is so important?"

I thought it over before I shrugged, running a hand over my eyes. "Dunno. I'm too tired to function."

She only shook her head and continued with whatever conversation she was having.

Some when through it all I was allowed to go to my room and sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty Seven

I could hear whistling emanating from oval-shaped ball as it passed through the air. I couldn't quite follow its motion but then I had given up fifteen minutes ago, instead I was watching the people at either end. Jeremy caught the ball and a second later it was flying through the air before being caught by Tyler.

I might have been a small distance away from him, but I could see that he was more at ease than he had been early morning in the church and certainly more so than he had been in our first meeting. He moved in his usual motions, comfortable in throwing a small ball made of leather through the air towards a guy he hadn't liked before the transition. Tyler still didn't trust himself much—as I watched them I was supposed to stay a constant arm's length away—but he was at least comfortable enough that he could be a teenager, sans booze of course.

Ten minutes passed before I got bored with just watching. It must have been fun for them, at least they got to flex their muscles and test their speed. But I was just watching them, not partaking in the exhilaration or getting anything out of it—Tyler had his shirt on of all things.

I took a breath and focussed on the ball at the times I could see it. The trick to nonverbal wasn't something I couldn't explain yet, but I had started to notice that it came in times of extreme bursts of emotion. Could I actively try to control that? Or were emotions in that regard a fickle matter?

After all the emotions in the times were I had cast spells without saying them had been all over the place. If I couldn't pinpoint the particular emotion needed, then it seemed implausible I would be able to master nonverbal magic. At least I was getting better with smaller objects though.

I saw the ball as it started its downward arc and said, "Motus," before I veered the projectile right.

It swerved right as it hurtled towards Tyler but he was quickly in its path again, catching it. He spared me a quick look before he threw the ball towards Jeremy. I caught it again and swerved it again, moving it so off course that Jeremy couldn't catch it. He glared as he was forced to bend down and pick the thing up.

I noticed that the games started to progressively get faster.

There were times were the ball moved too fast for me to track it but the moment I did I couldn't catch with my spell and move swerve it off course without the ball losing momentum. Time passed and I was starting to get confident, instead of moving the ball left and right, I could upturn its trajectory so that it headed further into the air forcing either Jeremy or Tyler to jump into the air to catch it.

We continued in the exercise that should have been ridiculous and yet fun before a voice said, "While we talk about our feelings, you guys look like you're having fun. Not fair."

Jeremy and Tyler stopped and I almost let out a groan. Vicki had appeared from within the Lockwood house, something I was sure Mr Lockwood absolutely hated. I would have to build him a boundary that kept vampires out when I could handle something of that size, it had been necessity which had made him invite so many vampires into his house. That necessity had passed and any vampire who entered now would be a danger to the Lockwoods.

I might even do it for free if I was in a good mood.

Jeremy was the closest to me which meant I could see it as his expression turned dopey-eyed. Tyler sort of tensed up but that was all I could read with him at that far a distance. This would be bad with the budding relationship I was trying to set up between Tyler and Jeremy. Vicki had been a major reason the two hadn't gotten along, now they had familiar ground to start being friends but with Vicki back in the equation all that might fall apart.

"Vicki," I said. "I thought you and the girl were having a thing."

She let out a huff. "They were talking and consoling each other, lamenting about the dreariness of being a vampire. I couldn't deal with it too long. I thought I might have more fun with you guys," she said.

"More people might liven whatever this is up," said Jeremy, a grin plastered on him.

There was something I missed because Vicki moved, finding a position that made a relative square when I put myself into the picture. A game of catch begun.

The slight moment we had paused caused me to lose my momentum. I had trouble seeing and following the balls as it zipped at random between the three vampires. When I got a hold of it, noticed the place in the air the ball always passed, the game reached its vigour as the ball's motions were wilder, known only by my mind.

I liked this.

Like using my powers not in the constant need to protect myself but to have fun. There was still a lot to be worked on, I knew. My father and I hadn't talked since his death. Caroline had lost her mother and worst of all it was her fault, the constant repeat of the story surely wasn't helping her case in the slightest. Mr Fell, back to his role as reporter, was covering the story of two drifters who had, while attempting to burgle the Forbes residence, attacked and killed Sheriff Forbes.

I had to give it to the council. They certainly knew how to cover up an event. I had heard through Stefan that a cover for my grandmother's death was already being cooked up. I certainly didn't know how I felt about that, but if it kept things neatly hidden then I didn't really have a say in the matter.

The business with the boundaries was one that would have to be discussed. A project of that size wasn't something that could be taken lightly and while I had confidence in my ability with Boundary Spells, I didn't trust that I could pull something of that level off. Which made it a better idea to have another witch doing the damned things. I didn't like it though, especially when I thought about the commission I might have been able to gather from the project.

But there was still an avenue I could take, all of which depended on the calibre of witch that would be building the boundaries. I hoped she wasn't too knowledgeable or the small part I wanted would be nothing.

"Mike," I heard Jeremy said. I noticed the game had stopped and Tyler and Vicki had disappeared. "We're going inside for a drink. You wanna join?"

"Yeah. Sure." I said, getting to my feet and starting the walk to the house. "You know the Lockwoods won't like to like us pilfering their liquor stores, right?"

"Tyler's blood supply arrived this morning. Rush job since he's the most important of us. He'll let us bum some off."

"Blood supply?"

"Yeah. Every registered vampire gets a month's worth of blood from the hospital. It's part of the reason they wanted the whole registration thing in the first place."

"This was discussed after I left?" Jeremy nodded. I sighed and ran a hand over my head. "I feel like a bit of an ass for my whole outrage," I told him. But then again it was more the level of disrespect that I had been against.

"What was up with that, anyway?" asked Tyler. "Wasn't it working against what you wanted to happen?" He threw a blood bag towards Jeremy as we entered the drawing room. Jeremy didn't have much trouble in catching it.

I took a seat on a small sofa, watching as Jeremy unobtrusively sat beside Vicki. I noted Tyler's expression. He was watching the sight but he said nothing. I turned to Vicki and she looked both disappointed and content. Did she have a thing for both of them? I shook the thoughts off and thought about Tyler's question.

"The humans are being led by the Founder's council; the vampires by my dad and Stefan; and the wolves by your father; while the witches lay unrepresented. That shows an imbalance of power because when big decisions that might affect Bonnie or me, we won't have a say. Something already proven by the whole debacle out the lack of payment being discussed with the rings."

"Fifteen thousand dollars," said Vicki. "It's great to know that a long time in my immortal life will be spent working to pay you off."

"I'm not charging you interest," I said with a shrug. Jeremy snorted at that.

"What are you going to do with that kind of money anyway?" asked Tyler.

"I've got a major project I'll be slowly working towards during the first hundred years of my life, after which I'll take it worldwide."

Vicki groaned. "And here was thinking I'd be rid of you in about sixty years," she said. "Is living old a witch thing? I find I don't know much about your specie."

"First thing to know, we're insanely powerful," I said. A second hadn't passed before Vicki was in front of me, her fangs bared. It was also not a second later that she flung back into the air and slammed into a couch.

Tyler and Jeremy were on their feet, the former of whom had already moved to a position closer.

"What the hell?" I heard coming from Jeremy. I noticed I was on my feet and my heart beating fast beneath my chest. Tyler, I noticed as my eyes quickly took in the room, finding anger to shoot towards the chuckling Vicki on the other side of the room.

"Just having fun," said Vicki, mirth filling her voice as she came to a stand.

"Yeah, well. Don't," said Jeremy, exasperation in his tone. "Are you okay?" he asked me, but I was more looking at Tyler.

He stood with a rigidness within him, eyes set on me with a scowl I didn't quite like.

"Ty, are you okay?" I heard Vicki ask.

Tyler shook his head, taking a large breath and said, "Yeah. I'm fine. Good." He lost some of the rigidity, something that calmed me a little but that still wasn't much. It was for the first time that I noticed I was in a room with vampires. While it was true that I had the ability to defend myself, that ability was limited in scope; three vampires after my blood were things I couldn't hope to survive against.

"I think this would be the perfect time for me to leave," I said with a shakiness to my voice. Jeremy said something but I missed it as I felt something else; it was strange, but I could feel it the moment the thread connected to me and the moment I investigated I felt its power coursing from somewhere towards me.

Tracking spell?

I intoned the Tracking spell as I remembered it, making it parallel the thread connected towards me. It worked, but the further I went the harder it was to keep the thread filled with power.

Was the person on the other side fighting me? Could I fight them in turn? I dug for power from the Bennett Talisman and flooded my thread with power.

Whatever was keeping me from seeing the other side broke apart and I saw the image. My father's house from the distance and the image was shaky, tearing apart at the edges. I kept filling myself with power and pushing into thread, making it so that image was clearer and zooming into the house.

I hit a wall and I couldn't get through at all.

I tried again but there was still this space blocking me. An idea hit me. If I couldn't get through with my connection, then could I hitch the one that was tracking me? How would I even do that?

I stopped fuelling my thread and turned to the other. Could I break it? Feeling out the connection I tried to cut it. Imagine cutting it. Imagined fuelling power into a cut and intone the only spell disrupter I knew but nothing happen.

I was being tracked and there was nothing I could do about it. I let go and went back into the real world.

"What's going on?" asked Jeremy.

"I'm being tracked," I said. "Can't be Bonnie because I don't think she's mastered connections well enough to be able to block me. Another witch? Powerful enough to keep me off and watching us right now."

"What would another witch be doing here?" asked Jeremy. "Should we be worried?"

"Why worry?" asked Tyler.

"Witches and vampire don't have the best of relationships," said Vicki. "Should I call everyone?" She sounded worried.

"It could be some of the guests for Grams' funeral," I said. "Bonnie and I expected some of them to be witches. We didn't expect them to be here so early though."

"I'll call Stefan for safety in the least," said Vicki as she took out her phone. I did the same, quickly texting Bonnie that there might be intruders in our house.

"I should probably go check it out," I said and Jeremy was next to me as I left the house. As I started the car I heard the door open and close, and looking at the rear view mirror I saw Tyler.

Honestly, I felt scared as I drove. I had never gone against a witch before and I could still feel this witch's thread watching me.

We got to my father's house with three cars already in the driveway, the car I didn't recognise parked further in. The two other cars being my father's and Stefan's. Bonnie had already arrived and there wasn't any fighting so that was a plus.

I got out of the car and was immediately flanked by Jeremy and Tyler, much though I liked the security of having the two around, it would have been better if Enzo was around. We started towards the house and I felt the thread shatter.

The door opened and from within came out a tall woman with dark skin and long black hair. Excitement was the first thing I noticed from her, especially as her hands flew to her mouth but then it was overshadowed by surprised.

"Nature's grace you're a guy."

I literally stopped, stricken by shock as the image of this scary threat which had been forming in my mind evaporated. Why would she think I wasn't a guy? I certainly didn't have feminine features.

"Mom," she said, her voice loud. "There's a male Bennett."

Confusion flooded me as I stared at the woman.

"Who are you?" I finally asked, the most pertinent question.

"Lucy," she said. "Your cousin, I guess." She turned into the house, looking at someone who looked roughly like Bonnie. "Are you sure he's not adopted?" she asked.

"I'm not adopted," I said just as Bonnie said the same on the other side.

"Wow," said Lucy.

"Makes sense that she was hiding this," I heard as I got closer. The voice was older, a woman and for a second I thought it might have been Grams. "It would garner attention," the woman said.

Lucy shook her head. "Witch politics," she said. "So stuck on tradition these people. Come in. All of you. We swear we won't kill any of you," the last was said with a particular look at both Jeremy and Tyler.

"It doesn't work that way," I said, my mind still abuzz with confusion.

"Don't worry about it," said Lucy with a lazy wave of the hand. "I set up this spell that made a temporary dimension that's the exact replica of the house. It's my space so I can affect who comes and goes."

My mind stopped. The confusion was gone and instead I was geeking out. How did that work? What did it mean for the physical manifestation of the house? How long did it take her to set something like that up? How had I not known about something like that? Wait, there was. The Other Side. Was this a smaller version of something to that extent? If we were cousins could she teach me to do that spell?

"What's wrong with him?" I absently heard.

"It's what happens when you don't gently introduce him to a spell," I also heard Bonnie mutter, her voice cutting through better into my thoughts. "Micah," she said a little louder and I was jerked out of my thoughts. "Come in. It seems we have family Grams never told us about."

Her tone told me that it was a fact she didn't quite like.

The three of us entered.

* * *

AN: Finally the witches have arrived. It's not really been a long time, but since I wanted to make this story witch orientated, twenty seven chapters is stretching it a lot. I got the feel that Bonnie and Micah are a little bit overpowered for people just learning about magic, but then again I didn't understand why the witches from the show put up with how the vampires in the shows treated them. But as of right now the truly old vampires haven't arrived but the few that there are-Mainly Anna-have shown they've been around long enough to be able to go around spells. Which might be the reason. This, I hope, will be the running theme. Hopefully I will be able to write smart characters that will be able to fight off witches and the major power that they have.

I'm not sure when I'll next update. I was able to do these chapters between the small instances I had as a break from studying, but I'm finding this story is the easiest to write as I'm basing this on what I think I would do in certain situations and there's a lot of inspiration to draw from the show. So the update might come pretty soon.

I hope you enjoy the story and if there are any suggestions for anything you want in the story, or any loopholes you might come up with for the spells which have been cast in the show, leave a review and I'll incorporate them into the story. I'm in desperate need of the last, especially loopholes that don't require one to be a witch.

Thanks for reading through all this.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty Eight

Joanna and Lucy sat of a couch opposite our own, the two women looking at us with almost opposite expressions; the former was hard to read, almost blank in a way, while the latter showed too much emotion, the loudest of which was excitement. Bonnie and I sat in the same couch while our father took the couch to our left, looking at the witches with unhidden mistrust.

Jeremy, Tyler and Stefan were not in the room. The former was in the kitchen no doubt listening in, the Tyler having gone to tell the rest of those who had no doubt been called in for help that nothing was the matter, and all I knew about Stefan was that he'd gone to check something out. What it was I didn't know, but from the quick word he and my father had shared, he would know.

The five of us had been sitting in silence for about a minute. I wasn't sure where everyone else's thoughts were, but mine were stuck on the spell around the house and how it would work. Lucy had built a parallel of the house, making it so that it was her own and thus the Protection of Invitation belonged to her, a perfect loophole. The house overall looked exactly the same in every respect, but I wondered, if I moved something now, would the object be moved in the _real _house when the spell was broken?

For that matter how long had the spell taken to cast and how much power did it need?

My thoughts were broken when my father spoke. "I suppose the first question to ask would be how you're related to my children," he said. "I hope you don't mind my saying that people coming out of the blue, saying they're family comes off a little suspicious."

"My daughter gets excited," said Joanna, her voice and tone still reminded me too much of Grams, or was I perhaps projecting that? I couldn't be sure. I knew that with everything happening I was too screwed up to notice when I went over the edge, particularly towards something I didn't entirely understand.

"The way she describes it, you might think that Sheila and I were sisters," she said continued. "We were not. I think we might have been second cousins or some such. What matters is that I am of the Bennett line, that claim is stronger still since my sect of the family still resides in Salem."

"I thought all in our line left Salem during the witch trials," said Bonnie, her voice with a hint of confusion.

"All on the female side," said Lucy. "Men didn't have much to worry about. They were cursed a long time ago so they wouldn't be able to practice. History of witch-Bennett men shows that they have a thing of going mad with power," the last was said almost in whisper.

I swallowed, feeling a shiver pass up my spine and my eyes straying around the room as I felt heavy gazes on me.

"Our line hails from Jedidiah Bennett," Joanna said, breaking what would have become an awkward silence and calling the attention back towards her. "Having had a family at the time he stayed. Changed his surname for a while but when the first female was born, it took the surname Bennett as is tradition."

"Even so," said Lucy. "By right you're family. We're all Bennetts. We all belong to a powerful line, the two of you more so because you're twins," she said, her voice still with that excited air to it. "Do you have any idea how rare that is? I've only met seven covens that have been able to bear twin witches—well eight, now. But I would have never imagined our line had the potential."

"What's the big deal about being a twin?" I asked, unable to keep back my curiosity and severely hoping to keep the thought that the males of my family who could practice had gone mad with power—just as quickly my mind seemed to draw parallels, showing me that already I was too obsessed with being powerful.

I shook it off before it could go too far. Grounding myself in the thought that there would be sign if I were going crazy. If I could not see it, then enough people around me would tell me and I didn't remember that ever happening.

"Twins are odd," said Lucy. "Nature seems to have a hard time with them in the general scheme of things. When I was in Egypt, I heard of a pair of twins there that, for the longest time, could not be killed because of a natural formed link between them. While the other lived the other could not be killed, they would just pop back to life. Unfortunately they weren't immune to old age. Lived to two hundred before they committed suicide. They were dying every hour or so in an endless loop."

Gruesome. Particularly the excited air that she told the story. I hoped the same could not be said for Bonnie and I, but then again it wasn't something I would likely test out, and even if it were the case I would work hard to make sure I didn't age in the first place.

"We don't have to expect that, do we?" Bonnie asked. I spared her a look and she was frowning in distaste.

"I doubt it," said Joanna. "The links are unique in most cases and from what I see, yours is the reason he can practice. He is feeding off your power."

"You make me sound like a parasite," I said, feeling more than a little insulted.

"Is that not it?" she asked. "What are you giving into this relation you share with your sister? You are cursed, child. A curse that was meant to protect the world, us as witches, and your luck in having developed in the womb with your sister means you have found a loophole to that curse."

As each of her words passed I felt a flare of anger starting from my stomach and rising through me. My expression, I felt, was fully settled into a glare and if looks could kill I'm sure she would be dead.

"Micah," I looked, the glare leaving my features and instead confusion. He wasn't looking at me but towards the door. I turned and saw that it was open, but there was no one there. "As much as that sounded like a threat. I'm sure it wasn't," my dad said and there was a threatening air to his tone.

"It wasn't," said Lucy, vehemently shaking her head. "I think mom's just as surprised as I am is all. Something like this is unprecedented. Something we had not expected. If we had, we might have brought our whole coven."

"That sounds like another threat," said my father, his tone of warning.

"That's not what I meant," said Lucy. "Just." She took a breath and thought about it. "Like I said before most witches are stuck on tradition. The French Quarter and their Harvest Ritual, the Gemini Coven and their Merge, the New Mexico Coven with their wolf sacrifices, and countless others. Something like this, a male Bennett practising, is a big deal. Big enough of a deal that it will get a lot of attention."

"Hence why Sheila hid it," added Joanna.

"I'm not sure, but I think that Micah's kids could practice whether they're male or female," she said. "Which is great for us a family. The Bennett line has been hanging by a thread because most men aren't willing to take their wives' surnames and the power of the line depends on the ancestors being able to recognise you as their own—the surname you identify yourself by."

"So, this is actually great for our family in the long-term?" I asked.

"Maybe," said Joanna. "If you reproduce then yes. If not." She shrugged.

"Tradition is that a male Bennett goes crazy with power," said Lucy. "Tradition is the corner stone for most covens. So you being able to practice means the chance that you might strip the veil and try to take over the world or something."

Hadn't I done at least the first part of that? Should I be worried? I shook it off. I wasn't crazy. At least I didn't think I was crazy, but that wasn't saying enough in all honesty. I could feel the string of thoughts before they arrived, the eternal loop which would come when questioning my own sanity.

"And that's bad because Grams must have had some witch friends," said Bonnie and I was happy that she managed to cut the loop short…wait, scratch that. The news was horrible. Bonnie and I didn't really know how many of those going to Grams' funeral would be witches, much less witches who would have that heavy a hold on tradition that me being both a Bennett and a practising witch would put me in danger.

"Fuck." There was no time to feel abashed as the word managed to slip out of my mouth.

"Now you can see why bring our entire coven might have been a good idea," said Lucy. "A show of force of sorts. If there were enough of us then no one would get any ideas about attacking you."

"Not to mention the obvious problem," said Joanna. She was good at that, I noticed, saying the right thing that managed to get attention to return to her. I was looking at her and I could see my father doing the same thing. "We did not come here expecting this," she continued when everyone was looking her way. "We came here to see a young witch that might not be able to protect herself if a visitor tried to claim the power of her home."

I didn't entirely understand what that meant. There was power here in Elena, but how would they know that?

"Generations of Bennetts have called this place home," said Lucy, maybe noting my confusion. "Their bones are here and they can be channelled for power, and like I say a lot. Our power is powerful. Someone looking for power might think it might be a good idea to steal that power from the both of you."

"And kill you so that the ancestors have no choice but to use them to enforce their wills," added Joanna.

"Mom," said Lucy, her voice chastising. "You've got to stop doing that. You're scaring them."

"They are Bennetts," said Joanna. "It is not our way to run from fear."

"They're kids," Lucy insisted.

"Not for long," she said. Joanna gave my father a look before her eyes darted towards the kitchen. "With the company they keep, they will have to be strong."

Lucy frowned. "What's up with that, anyway?" she said. "I don't think I've seen this many vampires in a town since New Orleans."

"It's a long story," said Bonnie and her voice sounded more tired than I'd ever heard it before.

"I love stories," said Lucy, missing the fatigue in my sister's voice. The same could not be said for Joanna.

"Now is not the time," she said, her tone curt. "We have done our duty. Announced our arrival as is custom." She glanced at her watch. "It is late—" It wasn't even four yet "—and I am tired." She stood. "Tomorrow we will meet as the sun rises and get started on blessing the graveyard, making it so no witch may walk within except the both of you. Can you channel?"

"Our affinities," I answered.

"I'll teach them the basics," Lucy quickly chimed in.

Joanna nodded. "Drive me back to the motel first," she said. "I think they will need to speak. Most likely discuss if we are to be trusted."

They left, my father going along with them to move his car out of the way—he'd parked them in. Bonnie and I were quiet for the longest time, both lost in our own thoughts at the two women who had been guests in our home. For the longest time the only thought that passed through my mind was that this was an alternate universe without a doubt. I could trust nothing that had happened in the series because this, I was sure, had never happened.

Cursed Bennett men? Power in graves? Okay maybe there had been sign to the last though it had been explored more in the Originals than in Vampire Diaries.

I took a long breath because my thoughts were too interwoven for me to think clearly. I rubbed at my scrunched brow, willing myself to think nothing for a while but that didn't work much because thinking seemed to be my default setting.

"I'm guessing you didn't know any of that," said Bonnie and again I was grateful that she broke my string of incoherent thoughts.

"No," I said in answer. Jeremy had entered the room, something I had totally missed while focusing on my thoughts.

"Your dad says to go to your grandmother's house. The spell around the house is going to end at any minute," he said standing and already making for the door.

"We should take the grimoires," said Bonnie. "They had enough time to walk into the house and establish a Boundary spell. If other witches can do this then they aren't safe anywhere but with us."

"I think we've been dealing with vampires too long," I muttered, getting to my feet and heading towards my room. "We've started getting comfortable with what little we can do."

Bonnie said nothing.

My room was a mess. Potted Vervain plants over most surfaces, jars filled with salt, a stack of chalk pieces and candles everywhere. As if to prove my previous statement Emily's grimoire sat on my floor in plane site, a circle of salt surrounding it, and beside it in another circle was the talisman.

The spell to disrupt the circle was almost second nature and since I had cast the circle it was easier still. I first took the talisman and put it on, hiding it under my shirt because the thing was unsightly.

The grimoire was next, tucked under my arm.

"You'd tell me if I showed any sign of being crazy, right?" I asked as we descended the stairs. "Because I was locked away in my own mind for a portion of my life and that messed me. I can't help but thing I'm damaged and everyone's been keeping quiet because they might hurt my feelings."

Bonnie stopped and looked at me for a long time before saying, "You're not crazy, and we're not sure we trust them yet."

I nodded. We locked the doors as we left, which really didn't mean much at this point but it helped me feel a little safer. The drive was quiet and it was the same at Grams'. The house was a little different than the last time I had been there, cleaner—that could only be my dad—my jars of Vervain solution having disappeared and a large empty spot where the table had been.

The quiet was broken by the ring of my dad's phone. He answered it, pressing a button and putting it in loudspeaker.

Stefan spoke, "Joanna Bennett, married to Alfred Bennet, formerly James, and both have a child named Lucy. That's as much as Sheriff Bishop could get this quickly but he said he'd know more in a day or two. I've been checking the daughter though, she has an internet presence, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. From what I gather, she seems sociable enough, really big on travelling."

"Has she ever said anything about Egypt?" asked Bonnie.

"Yes. Three years ago there was an influx of pictures of pyramids and sand. There were a few posts on Facebook about learning the histories."

"At least that was true," said Bonnie. "But we can't be sure of anything else they've told us, particularly referring to our family. I think Grams would have told us something like this," she said, insistent.

Dad shook his head. "I think she would have told me something like this," he said. "I wouldn't have let her tell you." The honesty was refreshing and I didn't disagree with him. I didn't want to know I could, or would, go crazy. It would make me question every decision I ever made and I didn't want that. Even know I was wishing there was a way to forget what they had told me.

"But she didn't," dad continued. "Which means that what they've told us is suspect. It could just be a lie. Getting on your good graces."

"Why, though?" asked Bonnie. "If anything what they've told us is helpful. We'll protect our ancestors from anyone that would want to steal their power."

"They could also want that power," Jeremy put in.

Dad shook his head. "It would have been easier then, to just take it. We didn't notice then coming in, they found the house and were able to enchant it without us noticing. The only reason they noticed was because the two of you felt them tracking you."

"It think that might have been intentional," Bonnie added. "I've been working with Tracking spells long enough to notice that she was using more power than required, making it so that when the connection hit we both could feel it."

Dad sighed. "We don't have much of a chance but to play along at this point. This blessing around the graveyard, what do you think it is?"

"Maybe be a boundary?" said Bonnie. "But they're not my thing. Mike?"

"Yes. Maybe. I'm not sure."

Dad sighed again. "We play along, staying on the alert. Stefan, tell the Sheriff about the witches and tell everyone to be on the alert. If they try something we should be prepared."

"Bree should be here by night's fall in any case," said Stefan. "She'll help us safeguard against spells and the like."

The line dropped but the conversation around the room continued. I didn't pay it much attention beyond the point that we were playing along. We didn't know enough and thus we were forced to work with people we couldn't be too sure we could trust. They were Bennetts, at least they called themselves Bennetts, but there was no way we could ensure that claim. All this because we didn't know enough.

We needed another Bennett that was more knowledgeable in all this, one we knew would most likely work without our best interests in mind.

"Dad. Do you have anything belonging to mom?"

Everyone was quiet, the question hanging in the air with an almost palpable effect. I looked at Bonnie, her eyes having glazed over and moisture gathered at the edges. The way she looked at me I could already tell she knew what I was thinking, where my thoughts were directed and looking at my dad I could see the same being said for him.

The lines of his jaw hardened as his teeth grit together.

Hard as this was for me or Bonnie, it was harder still for my father. Bonnie and I had known the woman for five years, memories that were indistinct at best now but my father had known her longer, they had dated for a long time before being married and even then it had been a few years before Bonnie or I had been born.

"I'll try and find a map," said Jeremy having sensed the tension in the air and he quickly disappeared.

Dad took long breath before he reached under his shirt and pulling out a band tied to a rope. It was not my mother's ring but his own, but it would have power behind it. Marriage was an extraordinary bond between two people and one strong enough that it could sustain the strain of being felt along and used to look for another individual.

"What if she's cloaked?" asked Bonnie. "What if she doesn't want to see us? What if…"

"We need her," I said. "Because as likely as it is that Lucy and Joanna are telling the truth, it's just as likely they're not."

"We find her, I go talk to her," dad said, his voice a monotone. "You two will stay here. Learn whatever it is that she wants to teach you. I trust you to know if it's dark or malevolent in nature."

He needed this, I told myself. At the end of this road there would be some closure about why she had left.

I shrugged.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Twenty Nine

The phone rang just on que and Anna quickly picked it up, what followed next was a gushing emotional display that was so sweet I was sure the sugar rush would last for the next week. Anna spoke too quickly for me to hear but her features were something I could at least read and she was the happiest I had ever seen her.

Had she not killed my grandmother, I'm sure I would have felt bad for her being imprisoned, but as it was no such sympathy existed. I sat outside her cell watching and listening to the fast moving one-sided conversation, my mind doing its level best to ignore its churning thoughts, something that became easier when Claude walked in.

"I thought vengeance was your thing," he said, he stood leaning next to a wall near the staircase leading up to the offices, a far look on his face. "Jacque used to say he liked watching you go off about people forgiving the villain," he went on. "So this confuses me."

"I'd like we not talk about Jacque," I answered, my voice hitching as it said the name.

"I kinda think we should," said Claude. "You're all about vengeance. Jacque kind of broke your heart with the whole disappearing thing. Getting his cousin to fork out money she doesn't have is something in character for you."

"Because you know me pretty well," I muttered. "I'm guessing as well as you know your brother. Forgive me if I'm wrong but aren't I the one who first noticed he'd disappeared? Something you missed?"

Claude said nothing for a long while, blue eyes set in a scowl as they looked my way. "What does she have that you want?" Claude asked. "It's the only reason you would be doing this. It's the only reason you didn't have that vampire of yours kill her."

I said nothing, letting my thoughts drift and ignoring Claude's presence. Jacque. My mind had been working on automatic trying its best to keep memories of the boy away. He'd just disappeared six months ago, leaving in the dead of night with not even a goodbye; his family and I had looked for him, of course, there had been no sign that he was tired of Mystic Falls or that he wanted a change of scenery so the logical conclusion had been a kidnapping. There had been a hubbub for a month, missing person's reports being filed and the story being covered on the news before Jacque had called his mother, said he was alright and that they should stop looking for him.

No mention about me.

Countless hours spent in a near sleepless state and I hadn't even existed to him in the end. I had been angry for a while, being the proverbial misunderstood teenager before that had grown boring and I forced myself to believe that I didn't care.

There was relative silence for a long time, the only thing in the air being Anna's buzzing voice, her words spoken so quickly that nothing could be heard. I fixated on that, thinking on what she could be saying. Her mother was old, maybe older than her. With her daughter in jail she would be plotting ways to get her out and right now maybe she would be telling her what she knew about the town and its inhabitants, our weak spots and the like.

This was a danger all things considered, particularly since Claude had just walked in here and aired that his brother was not safe in Mystic Falls.

_Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself you have to use magical means to find Jacque, _I heard a part of myself say and I wanted to shake away the thought but more of my brain power kept telling me of all the ways he could be in danger.

It would be simple, all things considered. I could use a personal artefact to form the link and have the entire process done within five minutes. But did I want to do that? Jacque had left of his own volition and me clinging on to what we once had was unbecoming.

I dispelled the thought and focused on the words I couldn't hear. I glanced at my watch and decided to give her thirty minutes before I took my phone and ended the conversation.

"I suspect I should prepare for torture," said Anna, the thirty minutes had passed and my phone was on the precipice of the boundary. Claude had left some time ago. I couldn't pinpoint the exact time because I had been trying hard to ignore him. "He doesn't like you," she explained. "I don't like you. We have something in common."

"I'm sure this is the part where you threaten me about being loose-lipped," I said. "Don't. Because if you do, you'll be giving me reason to manufacture events towards your death."

"Could you really do that though?" she asked, a small smile on her. "Let's be honest, you could have killed me or let your bodyguard Enzo kill me. But you didn't. I don't think you have it in you to dirty your hands."

"Maybe," I said. "But I think I'm very good at making people regret their decisions. Like this right here. The simple thing for me to do is hold back your phone privileges. Maybe for a day or may for a year." I shrugged before walking off.

There were a few deputies in their stations when I was leaving, most were in the know, but the few I could see that weren't watched me with interest. It didn't take much to notice that something strange was going on, regardless of the recent spike in deaths in a small town there was also the fact that many of the Founder's children had not been going to school.

Enzo was waiting by the car as I exited.

"I hear you have family," he said. I clicked the key and the car's locks clicked open. He entered into the passenger's seat.

"Supposedly," I answered. "Whether that's true or not is still something that's in the air."

"That doesn't explain your father leaving though. I'd expect him to be hovering over the both of you not out of state."

"You know us," I said, trying to inject a light hearted feel into my voice. "We've always go cards up our sleeves. How did it go? Looking for your woman? I'm hoping you didn't kill anyone," I said, sparring him a look before returning to my eyes towards the road.

"No," he said, sounding aghast. "Though I did come close to it. The new sheriff doesn't like me much I've gathered. Meaning I've had to find other avenues to getting what I want. None to do with killing," he added.

"A small comfort," I told him. "You'll tell me if you need help on the magic side of things?"

"Will it mean I pay for it?" he asked, sparring me a look.

I shook my head. "Call it a favour to a friend."

"We're friends, now?" he asked, he sounded surprised by that.

"I'd like to think so. I'm not sure how these things work, in often case I can't remember how I made friends but you having saved my life at some point so it goes without saying."

The drive ended as I went up the house's driveway, parking behind Lucy's car. The moment we arrived at the door her voice chimed, _Come in_, and Enzo walked in without questioning it. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, no doubt in the hours that had passed everyone knew about the plan, about the witches and my potential to become crazy…okay maybe not the last. So few people knew about it and they could easily be tracked, except if the witches told everyone who wanted to listen—but then that wouldn't make sense.

I stopped the thought in its track, focusing in the now. The room was filled with candles, jars of salt and water placed at various parts of the living room; the middle had been cleared of its table, Lucy and Bonnie sitting in the middle, my sister already looking as though she was in a trance. Others in the room included Stefan and Elena, sitting together and talking in soft whispers, Jeremy—who, he had said, would make it a point never to miss anything involving magic—and Enzo who looked over everything with a bored air.

"Right," said Lucy. "The spell we're going to be doing tomorrow, the blessing, is really just one large Boundary spell. To cast it we'll need to channel all four elements to build the boarders, anchoring the spell in place. Your sister's already told me that you're good with boundaries, your elemental affinity being earth I can understand it, you're prone to building walls than attacking. But being a twin is an advantage at this point.

"You and Bonnie are part of a pair, connected on an intrinsic level. With most twins they have the same elemental affinity, but those who don't, they find it easier to channel the affinity of their sibling. So now you'll be trying to channel fire. You'll open yourself up, but unlike you would with the earth—wait for it to find you—you'll have to actively try and find the fire before seizing its power with force. Bonnie's been doing the same with earth."

I gave a nod and opened myself up. I felt the earth immediately, the jars of salt strewn around the earth pulsating with power and the ground beneath me even more so. I pushed all that aside, directing myself in the direction I knew there should be a candle and waited for the warmth and soft crackling of the fire. Time passed, waiting when I remembered that I should be actively trying to find it. I worked with the vague instruction, searching for a warmth, searching for a fire until I felt it.

There was no time to think as I drew the power into me, letting the warmth fill me up inside. With it came a sense of invigoration, the intense need to move forward and do something, anything. Put myself into anything and see how far it would take me. But what could I do?

A boundary spell passed through my lips, power being drawn fro—

The spell suddenly stopped, the power violently wrenched from my control. I opened my eyes to see that fires had started at the edges of the room. Lucy said a word and they went out as though they had never been there.

"Right," she said. "Should have warned you about that. There'll be impulses. Try and ignore those, reminding yourself who you are and the actions you'd likely take irrelevant of how you feel. But that was good. Try finding the flames again. Until it's as easy as finding the earth."

I nodded and closed my eyes, again opening myself out and grasping around, feeling for the warmth. It took a few minutes but I found it again, letting its power fill me up before I let it go. I repeated the process and reaching the flame became easier with each repetition. The power didn't come as fast as when I felt the earth around me, but it was faster.

I decided to change and go for water. It took a lot longer than the fire. I had two snack runs, my legs cramped up and I had to seat on a pillow and I got bored for a while and watched Bonnie trying to concentrate on finding the wind. Water would be the hardest for her, fire was impassioned, everything bared at the surface while Lucy had described cool and tranquil, running deep and hard to see its true depths. For me water would be my trial, I was used to being grounded in the earth, building walls that protected me while the wind required a sense of detachment and unpredictability.

Bored I went back into feeling for the water, straining until I felt eventually, the night having turned black, a tranquillity wash over me. I felt its impulse in the same way that I felt the fire, whatever passion had been in me suddenly disappeared and was instead replaced by a calm that unsettled me. Nonetheless it was power and I let it fill me up, lending me its strength before I let it go and repeated the process.

Wind was next and by the time I might have felt a wisp it was well into the next day. The power from the wind was strange, almost as though it had no concept of staying still. I managed to get a portion of it, filling it passing into me a second before it left. Leaving me in a state of confusion.

All throughout the other elements I got the power, let it fill me and had ample time to decide whether to use it or send it back to its source. But with wind the power seemed to have a mind of its own. It filled me up and left as it wanted. Sometimes in large portions while other times I had to deal with getting portions of power at a time that had been off kilter.

But I bore through it all. Learning as time went by that the wind would never been an element I would chose if I had a choice, even though it was the most abundant.

"I think I've got it," I heard Bonnie say and I decided that the same could be said for me. Lucy told us the next step, which was channelling all the elements at once; an experience that was physically excruciating.

The talisman was powerful. The elements were powerful. Channelling one should have been the equivalent of the other. This was not true. Where the talisman had a certain intelligence behind it—the power within the thing came when I needed it and stayed at the distance until I called it—the same could not be said for channelling all four of the elements. My mind was consumed by many things, trying to find the middle ground between the passion of fire and apathy of water, trying to keep grounded enough to channel the earth but having enough of a sense of detachment that the air's power could move through me.

The power flooded me, uncomfortable under my skin and pulse. I couldn't move when that power was within me and any muscle twitch sent me into agony. The part that got to me was that I wasn't even letting the power travel through me. I was just temporarily keeping it before I returned it to its various sources.

Ten minutes I did this and it felt as though hours had passed. My brow lined with sweat and my breaths coming out ragged, tears filling my eyes.

Who knew there would be this much pain where power was concerned? A part of me couldn't believe that Grams had regularly channelled power from the elements when there was this much pain behind it, the feeling that I might explode if I filled myself up with too much power.

"Now it's time to channel," said Lucy. "I want you to build your own personal boundaries. Break them apart then reform them. We'll do the exercise for an hour and a half."

"I don't know how to break apart a boundary," said Bonnie. Neither did I for that matter.

Lucy, shockingly, told us a quick spell that violently broke apart a boundary. Bonnie and I did as she asked. That was even more terrible than drawing in the power and pushing it back. If hoses could feel the water passing through them, the pressure and the liquid zipped through it, they would be the only things that knew the agony that was channelling all four of the elements at once.

I managed to do the procedure twice before I was hit by an extreme exertion.

"I can't do this," I muttered, having fallen on my back and wanting to do nothing. "I can't do this. I can't do this."

"This is just your body getting used to all that power," said Lucy, her voice soothing. "Once it does, channelling the elements will be easy."

"I don't want to do this," I clarified. I didn't like pain. There was nothing in it to like. The body futilely telling its owner which part hurt and continuing to do so even when the owner was fully aware to the fact. Pain, I had read somewhere, had the capacity to make people crazy in large periods. I had read somewhere else that people could be conditioned by pain and reward.

Of my many fears, pain was a close third.

"But you have to," said Lucy. "We'll need you when we cast the spell. If you don't master this the spell might degrade far too quickly."

I didn't care. I lay back, closing my eyes and letting myself calm down. Why was Nature's power this volatile? Because I'd been pulling power from the talisman and I hadn't felt this amount of pain. Would it be the same way when I started practising to channel blood? Because I couldn't imagine my plans going far if that was the case.

"Micah," I heard and I jerked, a streaming glint of light catching my eye and causing me to glint. My neck ached and my back a bit off. I groaned while getting up, Bonnie siting over me. "You fell asleep," she said. "Almost broke Lucy's arm when she tried to wake you. Did you know you curse when you're asleep?"

I shook my head, rubbing a hand against my neck. "Where is everyone?"

"Elena's in my room, went to sleep. Jeremy and Enzo are patrolling the border of the town. Stefan's in the kitchen chatting to Lucy."

"Have you been awake in all that time?"

"With coffee, yes," she said and I noticed that she looked pale, her hair slightly ruffled and bags under her eyes. "Dad called." I perked up at that. "He says mom told us to trust them. Grams mentioned Joanna a few times. Dad said he'd be back today."

"What about mom?"

Bonnie shook her head. "Dad didn't tell me much, but she's not coming back…."

"What?" I could see it in the way she was looking at me, there was something she wasn't saying, something she looked scared to say for that matter.

"We sort of have a brother," she said hesitantly.

I shrugged. "Of course we do," I muttered. I got to my feet and went into the kitchen to make myself breakfast. There was something in my stomach at the thought. I remembered the brother in that he had existed, but further than that there was nothing in my memories about him. She was with him now, being a mother to him while we, having just lost a grandmother, meant nothing to her. We didn't even warrant a visit.

Lucy and Stefan looked up at my appearance, the former giving me a bright good morning which I returned as brightly as I could while still showing my displeasure.

"We still have a few hours," said Lucy as I was eating. "Time enough that you can get a bit accustomed to the channelling all for elements before we force through it." My expression changed, in the damned morning and I was being reminded that I would have to put myself through the pain I'd been feeling in the early morning.

I let out a huff, nodding but taking far longer than I should have to finish. I bore as well as I could through the pain before I stopped. We went to the graveyard where Joanna was already waiting.

"I've traced out the graveyard," she said. "Bordered it with salt. At the middle of all four sides is a circle, bound together by the strong tie that will help us channel each other. We will channel all four of the elements, each of us focusing on giving power to our particular side of the boundary. I will lead. This will make sure you to do not need to learn the spell and memorise it. You two will take the shortest sides." She pointed at said sides and I went to my own.

I sat in a circle of salt and opened myself up. Immediately I felt them around me, Bonnie's presence which I was somewhat familiar with, another presence that was an almost bubbly rumble, while the other was chilling and cold, detached in a sense. I pushed my thoughts away from the presences and turned them towards finding the elements; earth leapt into my embrace, then fire, water and finally wind. When I had grasped them all, allowed their power to run into me and store in there—in the case of the element of wind it did as it pleased—the spell begun.

The spell left my lips and the power was truly running through me. I felt the pain as the power flowed from around me, into me then into the construct of the line I was creating. More than anything I wanted to stop but I felt that Joanna was compelling me to continue, words spilling past my lips and my mind staying firmly on the task even though I wanted to be any place else than here.

Time became immaterial, but I knew that this was indeed the longest spell I had ever cast. The time it took for my side of the circle stretching far slower than I liked. But gradually we worked and with that gradual pace I could field the boundary being set.

And then it was over. It was like the time we had arrived only in reverse, the sun was on the other side, setting as much of the day had passed; though what got to me the most was that we had visitors.

"That took far longer than it should have," said a boy, skin pale and with neatly cut brown hair. He stood beside a man with similar features though his hair was a darker brown.

"Jared," the man admonished. He smile as his eyes returned to Bonnie and I, both of us paler and myself not up for company. "Andrew and Jared Anderson," the man said. "We wanted to make our presence known before settling into a motel."

"Yeah. Whatever," I said, not paying them any attention and heading for the car. I needed a full day's worth of meals. Something I'd missed because of the damned spell. Already my body was starting to feel the strain of having sat still for the entire day.

"Forgive my brother," I heard Bonnie say but I was out of earshot of what she said next. I took a seat in the back and, before I could do anything else, I was asleep.

I didn't wake up until the next day and just for a bit of normalcy I went to school. Bonnie didn't come with me, nor did Jeremy for that matter saying that there was some difficulty in hanging out with four humans an entire school was something he didn't think he could handle. Just as I arrived though something happened. I smacked face first into a boundary.

"Why am I not told things?" I said to Bonnie, slightly miffed and staring at the precipice of the school. People were looking at me, some with expressions of mourning while others were of something else I couldn't quite read.

"You are clairvoyant," she said, "and you didn't really give us warning that you were going to school. You just sort of decided it."

"I needed to get away from it all. You know this. How do I get in without being forced to break this down?"

"Could you?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe? With that spell Lucy told us and the power from the talisman? Or maybe I could disrupt it for some time? Should I try that or is it too dangerous?"

"Not sure," said Bonnie. "But there might be witnesses to your eyes turning white and you suddenly chanting Latin. So don't do that. Stefan will be there to keep an eye on you," she said. "We expect more witches to be coming in today and tomorrow for the funeral. They're likely to stop by the house so Lucy says she'll try and be here most of the day to keep a watch."

"Exciting," I muttered before going back to the car and waiting for Stefan. He arrived and gave me a ring. "When was this spell put up?" I asked as I walked through the boundary.

"Yesterday," he said. "Bree works a lot faster than novice witches and it helps that she knew what she was trying to do before she came in. It helped her prepare."

"That's a bummer," I muttered. "Has she already left? I don't remember her doing the whole announcing herself thing."

"We decided that the faster she protected the buildings with all the witches coming in for the funeral it'd be best to just skip through the introductions and have her doing her job," Stefan answered.

"And this was decided when?"

"While you were doing the spell."

A part of me that had been getting ready to be angry cooled. We split up for the day, going to our respective classes and only coming together in math. There wasn't much conversation between us because beyond everything Stefan had done for me, we weren't really friends. He had more of a relationship with Bonnie than with me, not to mention I was the one who had his brother bound in a circle in his basement.

Something neither of us had broached and with the possibility that my dad would eventually have an opportunity to ask about it, it was something worth discussing.

"So, Damon's in my basement," I said, leaning at the driver's side door. Stefan stopped and tensed, his teeth gritting and hands coming to his pockets.

"I know," he said.

"But you haven't asked about him."

"I know Damon and I have a measure of you. If you've bound him, then there's a reason."

I gave my head a shake. "I don't buy that."

"And I don't buy that Anna turned all the Founder's kids but you don't see me coming to you about it," he said. My expression slipped. How many people were suspicious of that? I pushed aside.

"This is the point where I say you're redirecting," I said.

"I'm guessing you have a psyche degree all of a sudden."

"Clairsentient. Maybe. Or it might be all TV. Either ways it's true in this case. Your brother's hurting. I'm getting the feeling that the past week has broken him and the whole solitude thing is not healthy."

"Listen, Micah. You have no idea what I've had to put up with because of Damon in our lifetime. You have no idea how many times I've tried to settle down and he's ruined that for me, he was planning to do the same with Elena and I before everything. This moment of peace that I have, I'll take it. Now do you mind moving? Elena and I have a date."

I moved but I was glaring. "Have you told Elena yet?"

"You wouldn't," said Stefan, but he'd stopped.

"I wouldn't, because she's a friend. But that I'm even bringing it up must show that I'm willing to blackmail you to get your brother both off my hands and sane," I told him. "Right I have nothing, I admit, but thinking long enough I might be able to find something buried in my head, things relating to humanity—I don't know what that means yet but I don't it's something you don't want to get out."

"I'll talk to him," he said.

I grinned. "Awesome. I'll be going home then. This lovely little chat."

Perhaps that was not the best thing to do, particularly since Stefan was much like his brother in that he had the great propensity for endangering my life. But having Damon sane took priority and though I had made a promise to find Katerina for him, I wasn't quite sure I would be up to the task. Anna had been able to feel Bonnie and I tracking her. The same could most likely be said for Katerina and she was supposed to have been running from Niklaus for the longest time, if anything she would be more attuned to the spell if she was not cloaked.

Stefan was the only option. Enzo too and maybe Elena, but I really couldn't threaten those two. Enzo because I quite liked him and Elena because I really liked her.

Guilt wasn't something I could survive very long on, I told myself as I drove back home with an amount of fatigue overwhelming me. When I got home, Bonnie had a guest—a woman I didn't know—but I was too tired to even bother. I went up to my room, spent a few minutes practising the speed of setting a boundary spell on my room, before going to bed.

I made a note the next day to start working on making anchors. Something I noticed from Emily's notes was that it was much like making a daylight ring: Fuelling an object with power enough to sustain the spell, incanting that particular spell then turning the cluster of threads which would normally be on the witch towards the empowered object.

Though I had a rudimentary understanding of riding threads. I'd need to start crafting them from scratch—I made a mental note to ask Bonnie about her progress. I hadn't seen her do much except Tracking and even I could do that without any particular practise.

I didn't get much time though the next day because I had to actively help in the planning of the funeral. Something I didn't like one bit. Every move I made was a reminder that I had played a role in my grandmother's death and the person directly responsible was in some prison and eventually I would have to give her the calling privileges back—her mother had called so many times the last few days I'd had to turn off my phone to get some sleep.

My feelings culminating through the actual funeral service and thus came the inevitable feelings of an extreme loathing of the condition that was death, especially human sentiment around it. The amount of people giving me their condolences as though it was this tangible aspect that could ease my pain.

Late evening there a wake was held. It was only a bit more interesting because at some point one of the witches there cast a spell that meant everyone without knowledge of magic and the supernatural left quite early, and thus the stories of who my grandmother had really been were let out.

"I remember the first time I met her," Joanna was saying to a host of a nearly twenty people, most of them witches and mix of friends. "She was the most spirited young woman I had ever seen, going against the mould that has been long been standard where elemental affinities are concerned. She was earth, poised from the beginning to create the strongest defensive walls and yet when we met, when I introduced her to the arts of weaving links, she took to it like a duck to water."

There was tale of my grandfather within Joanna's tale as well and I couldn't help but wonder why I hadn't particularly had an interest in finding out more about him or his side of the family. From what Grams had said it had seemed as though he'd died but there had to be something about him. I resolved to look. Grams had said she and he had disappeared for a while. Mystic Falls being a small town, there would surely be record of the man my grandmother had been with before she'd disappeared.

The story that caught my attention though, and it was not because it was particularly interesting—the woman had talked about Grams teaching her the basics at Whitmore—was from a woman who called herself Agatha.

"You're the author, right?" I said when she'd left the centre stage. "I read one of your works of binding agents."

"Did you know?" the woman asked with a small smile. "How did you find it?"

"It was quite interesting," I told her. "I wonder if I might have a private word. I want to discuss a few things and I don't need everyone's ears on us." As I said this I noticed more than one person looking my way. I wasn't sure whether to negatively read into that or whether it was just curiosity because I'd spoken to no one in the few days many of them had arrived.

"Sure," said Agatha and she followed me to the kitchen. I pulled out a bush of sage, burnt it and said the spell. The smell of it wafted through out the room. I quickly said another spell, a boundary spell that would only keep in the effects of the sage. "I think I should tell you that spell does that on its own, you know," Agatha said, her tone of amusement. "It affects one room at a time. You don't need to bind it."

"We're in a house with a butt load of witches. I'm sure one of them knows a handy loophole to the spell that they might use to listen in on our conversation."

She shrugged. "I suppose that's the hazard of being so sheltered. It would be stupid for you and your sister not to be so cautious with us around."

Someone who understood my healthy level of paranoia, I already liked her. But that was not why I had called her here. The most urgent question that I had was, "Does channelling other power sources have the same effect of channelling all of the elements?"

Agatha winced. "You've tried that?" I nodded. "I feel for you, kid," she said. "I still remember my first time. It as though there was this pressure running through me." Again there was a wince, on my part the same could be said. Maybe that was the reason I'd been irritable the last few days, because the thing I loved had been mingled with the thing I feared. "I almost gave up magic because of that."

"But you didn't," I said. "Instead you learnt more about channelling other sources."

She nodded. "I told everyone that it was a scholarly curiosity that drove me to experiment with most forms of powers, but in all honesty it was the fear of Nature." She had as small smile as she said this, as though she were remembering the distant past. "What I found out though was that most other forms of power has intelligence to it. It knows when to give and when to back off. I think this might be the reason most people have deviated from channelling the elements."

"I'm guessing Ancestral Magic would be the easiest given that it's just channelling sentient beings in another dimension." Agatha nodded. "But that's restrictive. Grams said the spirits would expect something of you, so they can play a greater role on this side."

"Often the case," she said. "I've even heard a few times of young witches who've been taken over because they hadn't been trained enough but channelled unknown spirits. Their power is best stayed away from."

"You said there was power in rarity, that the more rare the power source, the more powerful it is. By that logic if I say, destroyed every vampire save one, would the power from channelling its blood outstrip that of the elements."

The woman chortled. "Killing every vampire save one," she said still with a tone of amusement. She wiped at her eye. "That task is first of all impossible," she said. She knew about the Originals and from the fact that I hadn't mustered up surprise, if she was observant she would know I knew about them too. "But it if did happen, then yes, it would. But it would be even more powerful if there were two left, one for each gender…or three," she added after a brief thought. "One of each gender then both. The both would be the most powerful of the trio."

I nodded, mulling that over. This was the reason the Travellers had killed every other doppelganger except an Adam and Eve pair. Doppelgangers were perhaps the most powerful of fuel and having only two remain made them achieve feats which had only been in imaginations. It made me wonder, had Qetsiyah perhaps used both Silas and Amara during her spell, when she had created the Other Side. The memory was foggy, but I knew she'd incapacitated Silas before binding him to his tomb.

_Think on that later. _The reason I had talked to her was because of Hogwarts. It occurred to me, perhaps too late, that this had been an opportunity I could have used to mingle with these witches, see if they were opened to the idea of imparting their knowledge in a schooling environment. Many of them would be leaving tonight, it would be a pity if I hadn't even posed the idea to one of them.

"Good to know," I told her. "But that's not the reason I asked to you. Grams said she taught you herself, the basics that is. So that would been you don't have a coven to back you up. I've been giving that idea some thought, that out there are witches who are not getting an education because of not having a coven and this idea most witches have that knowledge is something that should be horded."

I could see it in her eyes, she could already see where I was going. She smiled a little, something I had not been expecting, her features softening and a far off look appearing on her. "I don't know whether she was serious on the matter, but Sheila had once mentioned having a similar idea; a school for our kind. You're more like her than you know," she said, looking at me. "But something like that would have a hard time occurring."

"Why?"

"The reason we have been able to hide is because of this informality," she said. "Imagine it. A congregation of at least a thousand witches that have to be taught to use their power. Something that large would be hard to hide, especially with technological advancements as of late."

"But something can be done to ward of watchful eyes. Cloaking spells and the like, or making another dimension that might could only be accessed by witches of the Academy."

"It could work," she said. "But do you know of such spells?" I didn't. I knew that the other side was another dimension made by a witch but it wasn't as though I knew where Qetsiyah's grimoire. Lucy had built another dimension by that worked in an abstract level to bypass the Protection of Invitation and even she had said it took a lot to keep running.

"Exactly," said Agatha. "Don't get me wrong I'm open to the idea. It would a pleasure to even teach at such an institution, but there is a lot that would need to be done first, a lot that would need to be thought out before many of us would think it safe to come out in such a capacity."

I let out a sigh, feeling a little let down. Wouldn't it have been the most awesome thing to achieve something at that level before I turned twenty-five?

"Could I ask a favour?" Agatha gave a nod. "You have other friends that are witches. Could you talk to them, test the waters on whether they would be open to imparting knowledge if I did achieve go past the logistical issues of something like this?"

"In honour of Sheila's dreams, I would," said Agatha, a soft smile on her.

"Thanks." I ended the spell boundary spell and I noticed Agatha frown. "What?"

"Sheila might not have had the chance to teach you this," she said, sadly, "and so I find myself obligated to mention it. The four elements exist in a circle. Each strong in their own right but weaker against certain others. Fire is weakest against water bust strongest against wind; water is weakest against earth; earth is weakest against wind; wind is weakest against fire. Boundaries are the bread and butter of people with an earth affinity and links are that of those with the wind affinity; this means that the best way to break a boundary down is to cut the strings that supply it with power."

"It's easier to breakdown a barrier by severing its ties to its anchor," I said with a nod. "Got it. You wouldn't happen to know a spell that can do that, would you?"

It was perhaps pushing her graciousness but I had to ask. She took out a notepad and pen from her purse, jotted down a few notes and handed them over to me.

"Thank you."

"It really isn't a problem."

People started leaving then. Lucy and Joanna amongst the last and she told us that the spell would cease at sunrise, and that it would be best if our vampire friends were not in the house at that time. The people who hadn't left thought were the Andersons. Jared looked miffed as he sat in a couch staring at Andrew and Bonnie on the floor, watching the weather channel.

"My brother's showing off to your sister," the boy said and he shook his head.

"What are they doing?" I asked, taking a seat and deciding to watch them. Both were muttering under their breaths, their eyes glazed white and though they weren't touching I had the distinct impression they were channelling each other.

"Making it rain."

I shook my head. "I don't think I understand."

"Look at that storm cloud," said Jared pointing at the TV. Indeed I could a storm cloud that had been hanging over another state slowly moving towards hours. The weather man was commenting on it with some confusion, his face red and sweat lining his brow. "It's a form of Sympathetic Magic," Jared went on. "Their pulling what's on the screen, but since what's on the screen is closely tied to something that actually exists, the storm is moving in the real world. Moving an actual storm cloud any other way would need too much power."

"You have a wind affinity?" I said.

Jared shook his head. "Water, but my brother's wind and I've been learning from him so I've adapted. That was my idea by the way. The one he's using to get in your sister's good graces."

"How old are you?"

"Thirteen, almost fourteen, but I'm something of a genius."

"And humble too," I added under my breath. Jared shrugged.

"I'm supposed to say sorry for your loss," the boy said after a brief moment of silence. "But I won't. I remember hating it when my parents died."

I hummed, feeling curious but not knowing whether it was socially acceptable to ask or not. I chose not to. "How long have you been practising?" I asked instead.

"Half a year, but I haven't done anything major. School. But when I reach sixteen I'm going to stop. My future's in magic. I don't need a formal education."

"Something I've started sparring some though too, truth be admitted," I told the boy.

"Are you crazy?" The question caught me off guard. "I heard them speak. The adults. They've been watching your every move. Making sure you aren't crazy. Are you?"

"I don't think I am," I said slowly. "Way to make me feel paranoid."

Jared shrugged, but he looked a little disappointed. "It would have been cool knowing someone crazy," he said. "But then you said you didn't think you were. I'm not sure crazy people think they're crazy. They have to work on some sort of internal logic that makes sense to them." He shrugged again. "I want to show off," he said. "The only witch I've really talked to is my brother. That gets boring."

Before I could say anything Jared had summoned a glass and was muttering a spell, drawing a straight line through the air.

"Just linked the glass with the table," he said. He turned the glass over and I missed the point of it actually happening but suddenly the table was upside down. "This next bit is harder." He rose the glass into the air, but the table stayed were it was, then he flicked his hand and the glass shattered. The table too shattered though unlike wood but instead glass. Jared said another spell and the pieces of glass that had been hanging in the air slowly put themselves back together. The table didn't do it slowly, when the glass had completed fixing itself the table was suddenly fixed.

"Teach me to do that," I said.

"Teach me to make a boundary."

"You're manipulative." Jared shrugged. I grinned. "I think I might like you kid."

* * *

AN: Thanking Syed for her reviews and ideas. Building the school on some alternate dimension was something I hadn't thought about until she mentioned it.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty

Hundred dollar bills. Two bands. The left of which looked much thinner than the other. The amount had come from the Maxwell family, delivered to me with a contemptuous glare by Claude before he'd promptly left.

"This is smaller than I expected," I said, taking the bands and feeling them in my hands. It was a lot of money, this I knew, but still size mattered in some circumstances.

"You should have told him to deliver it with single dollar notes," Jeremy joked, something I nodded sagely to. Doing that would have certainly eased the part in my mind that wanted more. That wanted five more bands all of them with enough girth.

"Fifteen thousand dollars," said Jeremy. "Do you want to go shopping?"

"You hate shopping."

"But I love spending money," he said. "And what comes in mind is this pair of shoes I've been wanting for the longest time."

"I have plans for this money," I said, smacking the stuff against my palm and feeling at least a portion of the sensations that a rich person felt; the knowing that any problem that would crop up while I had this stash, could be solved.

"Plans you haven't told me about," said Jeremy.

"They are simple goals," I told him. "Ones that involve building my own version of Hogwarts."

Jeremy shook his head, a worried expression. "I think that if the Founders knew about this they would be going out there to look for J.K. Rowling and murder her in her sleep for ever writing the Harry Potter series."

"There'd still be Xavier's School for the Gifted."

"That guy would be next on the list, and so on and so on until they went down the list of schools for those with extraordinary ability. What do you know about building a school anyway? You haven't attended much since this schooling year began."

"Pot. Kettle."

"Point. But that still doesn't invalidate my point. You don't know anything about building and running a school, then there's the actual teaching of the subjects. I know for sure that the things you've been practising aren't all there is to magic."

"Which is the reason it's a long term project," I said. "Right now, the main objective is getting the finances in order, then accumulating the knowledge as well as finding teachers. I'm sure I'll be forced to think about a curriculum but that's all in the far future."

"Make sure not to forget to add history in there," I groaned. "Hey. Maybe I could teach. I am vampire, your friend, I'll have an intimate look at the major event that is you creating Hogwarts—"

"Won't call it that less I get sued."

"—not to mention that with my mind being what it is, the accounts I tell will be relatively objective."

"That you used the word relatively makes me worried."

"Well, when you _start _acting crazy I want not to mention in to my future students." I couldn't help but sigh at that. Jeremy gave me a look. "Right now the idea of being crazy is not normal to your perception of the world. The more I mention it, the more it becomes so," he said.

"I get the feeling you're paraphrasing someone," I said. We grinned. "That was a fun year."

"Wasn't it supposed to be a month?" he asked.

"I saw I was doing good and didn't let my momentum wane."

"Calling Mr Owens hot is not doing good."

"By the end of two months three guys openly admitted Mr Owens was hot and soon after two others did the same with Mrs Mitchell." I let out a sigh, thinking back on my…the facsimile's achievements. They felt mine though, but they weren't really. Speaking in front of a crowd except if angered wasn't something I could do, and acting as something that I wasn't more so, and yet the facsimile had succeeded in that, tending the environment for those who had been forced to stay hidden by ignorance.

I felt guilt that I had destroyed it, subsumed it into the greater whole that was me. But as quickly as the emotion had come to life it was gone, there shouldn't have been a facsimile in the first place, I reminded myself.

"Caroline's dad got into town today?" said Jeremy. There had been a silence as I had been drawn into my thoughts, the only sounds being that of the TV in front of us and the rain that fell in sheets outside, it had been three days since it had arrived and it was still going strong.

"Yeah?"

"Brought his boyfriend and children with him."

"That must be a little awkward. I'm guessing there's a buzz around town."

Jeremy nodded. "You know how people are. Some think it's a disgrace that he'd have the audacity to bring the man he divorced his late wife for, but Elena says Caroline doesn't mind much. She just likes being with family."

"That's good." Something hit me. "Caroline's dad knows about vampires and he might do something drastic."

"He's been already warned against it," said Jeremy. "Sheriff Burton."

"Claude's been busy," I said.

"Very. He's had to tell more of his deputies about how everything is," he said. "Especially with the seemingly under aged girl that's been recently moved to secrets cells beneath the jail house."

"How do you know all this?" I asked him. "I'm usually the one who's in the know."

"There have been meetings," he told me. "Stefan tells Elena, she tells me and I tell you."

"It's strange that Enzo hasn't told me any of this."

"He's no longer allowed into meetings," said Jeremy. "The official word is that he not from Mystic Falls and therefore doesn't have any reason to be put in such a powerful position."

I swallowed, feeling a pit of unease that quickly turned into anger. My mind flew to Stefan and Claude, two people that didn't particularly like me right now and had reason for taking away what I most liked and was dangerous with, information.

"He resigned in his patrol duties in protest," Jeremy went on, not paying much attention to my features enough to notice my unease. "Said that they could probably do without him since he wasn't of the town and thus didn't care whether it was attacked or not. It was all rather dramatic, as I hear."

"One less vampire the humans have to worry about," I muttered. "They get more voting power as it were. Why don't you join?"

"I'm too young," said Jeremy.

"You're a Gilbert. You have as much right to be in those meetings as anyone else."

"Aunt Jenna seems to be dealing with things well enough," said Jeremy. "Especially with Mr Fell's help. Not to mention she wouldn't allow me. Just as your dad wouldn't allow you and you wouldn't go over his head, just as I'm not going to go over Aunt Jenna's head."

"I wasn't going to ask you to do that," I said and Jeremy spared me a look that told me he wasn't buying it. I was lying. I had been about to ask him to do just that. "I can't take this lying down though," I said.

"You're sitting."

"Shut up. I have to act. Do something."

"Not something crazy, though. There are still witches in town. They're trying to hide but they weren't expecting the patrols and were caught."

I let out a huff. "Something I would have needed to know and yet didn't," I said, exasperation lining my tone.

"It's not like you could have done much about it."

"Lucy could have. Not to mention Andrew and Jared are still around. I think they might be vying for the coven lifestyle."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because there's power in being in a coven and they're teaching us more than anyone would even if our grandmother had taught one of them."

"What are you thinking?"

"Making it official using links. The four of us forging links that make us able to use the other's power, it'll mean that what we don't have in experience we can make up for in raw power."

"Wouldn't it be sending the wrong message though?" asked Jeremy. "You have to constantly be thinking about how others might perceive your actions, and these seem power lusty."

"They are forcing my hand though, aren't they? They are showing me that they could watch my sister and I without us being aware, not to mention that we couldn't very well defeat them if they fought us."

"Sounds like rationalisations," said Jeremy.

"There's nothing wrong with rationalisations," I told him.

Jeremy shrugged. "I'm just telling you what they might think," he said.

I said nothing for a while thinking it over and finding that he words were true. In any case there wasn't much I could do about it. Anything I did would justify the other witches' beliefs, that I was crazy and wanted ultimate power or something to that effect. I took a breath, lolling my head back and looking at the ceiling.

"Has Stefan been here in the last three days?" Jeremy shook his head, his expression questioning. "I sort of blackmailed him into speaking with his brother, calming him enough that he'll be a functioning member of society."

"You want to release him after what he's done?" Jeremy asked surprised.

"Swear you'll tell no one about what I'm going to tell you?"

Jeremy paused his expression growing serious as he said, "I will bind this oath in the most powerful of magic." He held up his littlest finger. "A pinkie promise."

I couldn't resist. We sealed it.

"Elena and Damon are meant to be together." Jeremy gaped. "Damon will see you as a brother." Jeremy gaped further. "Damon will be a father figure to you."

"I don't believe you."

"I'm as near to omniscient as anyone can get in the world…at least I think. Be that as it may, that's the truth."

"Holy hell." He reclined. "Holy hell. But Stefan and Elena are all lovey-dovey."

"Everyone wants the bad boy," I said, sagely.

"How will Stefan take it?"

"Not well. He'll leave town…" I said, thinking over the events and then saying, "well before being chucked into the quarry that is and spending an entire summer drowning in a loop."

"I sometimes wish I was clairvoyant like you," said Jeremy. "But honestly, it's not worth it. Do you know how everyone of us dies?"

"No."

"You're lying," said Jeremy. I didn't react. "I never should have told you I can read micro expressions," he said. "You were on guard back there so there wasn't that second of guilt I was expecting."

"Let's move onto a happier subject matter," I said.

"Not that one exists. There another funeral on Saturday, not mentioning the fact that it's raining. Make moving to happier subjects almost impossible."

"How are things between you and Vicki?" I didn't care much, but it was a lighter subject than death.

"Over. Her and Tyler are sort of a thing."

"How are you feeling about it?" That I did care about.

"Hurt," said Jeremy. "Though not as much as I thought I might feel." He frowned. "It's strange now that I've gotten to know Tyler at his bleakest. I think he might be a decent guy." I grinned. "We're not really friends though," he quickly said. "I don't know what you were playing at…wait, are Tyler and me best buds in the future?" I said nothing. "How the hell does that happened?"

"Well, you see him as human now," I said. "That's a start."

"Micah. I'm know sure how you're supposed to take this but I fill I should say it. You've got me questioning everything you do and say, making it seem as though you're always pushing towards a certain future to occurring. That's creepy and invasive, stop it before I stop hanging out with you."

"I doubt that will ever happen," I told him. "I'm like you crack. You've gotten used to using me—and not in the perverted means—and now you can't stop."

He let out a sigh. "You're probably right. There's nothing to do but lay back and let it happen."

I shivered. "That sounded rapey."

"Exactly."

I frowned, thinking it over then, "Am I the rapist in this scenario?" that there was heat in my tone was expected.

"Yes. And now that the gravity of you and your possible manipulations have settled in, stop it, or at least tell me about it."

"Okay," I said. "But we'll have to bind it with a pinkie promise of course that you'll tell no one what I tell you."

He held up his pinkie.

* * *

AN: Pure dialogue. Something I've never done before but with all that's happened Jeremy and Micah haven't had time to do what best friends do best. Have a gab session. It was quite an experience to write this, thinking that I had to make this as natural as possible—hard since the concept of having a best friend became lost to me during my years and thus I don't know the sort of conversations they would have—while still showing that things on the outside are moving forward, but I think it's okay.

There should be a lull for some time. It occurs to me everything has been happening too fast. Expect the next chapter to be a full on learning magic experience while the political resolves of the town get settled.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter

-Stalker.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty One

Perhaps it's growing up in the present times that made me make the leap so easily. The age I was born in was one where information always lay in some abstract form in the middle of nowhere. At least that's what I thought when I picked the internet.

Though the internet in this case was irrelevant. The thing of importance was that I'd figured out something I was surely Emily would not have thought of in her lifetime, that anchors were batteries. The basics behind anchors was an object empowered and linked to a spell to sustain it for the indefinite future.

Which was the reason I stood with Andrew and Jared in the middle of a brewing thunderstorm, circles lined with salt arrayed around us. The first was around a large chunk of Lapis Lazuli I had bought with some of my commission, a primary measure of protection, the second was more superficial than anything because it kept us from getting wet and the third was containment for all the power in case anything went wrong.

Andrew took a breath before he began, saying a short spell before moving two fingers in a straight line from the stone to the sky.

"That should be it," he said. "We can expect a bolt within a minute. You know the thing could blow up right?" He sounded unsure, hesitant even but looking at his brother there was an excited gleam to his eyes.

I shrugged. "This for science," I said. "And the thing we should be commenting on is the fact that you just completed what's supposed to be a complicated Linking spell in under a second."

"You've channelled wind right?" I nodded. "Surely you've noticed it." I shook my head. "Well the dynamic with it is pretty simple. There'll always be an influx at first. If you don't use it, it will go away just as quickly as it came. But if you do use it, it will create a vacuum and draw in more of its power. Every spell done channelling wind needs to be fast."

"Probably the reason I have so much trouble building links," I said. "I'm not cut out for it."

Jared had been teaching me to create links from scratch for the last month but he hadn't been too successful. If there was already a sympathetic link I could use, then the task would be easier, but doing something like what Andrew had just done would have taken me hours to do, and even then there wouldn't necessarily be a certainty that I would succeed.

"Ditto with boundaries. Your grandmother tried to teach them to me but it didn't take, took too long," he gave a small chuckle.

"I'm awesome at both of them," said Jared. "Though what I'd given to be able to curse people. Bonnie and I were testing this spell that's supposed to heat blood—on water of course because anything else would be unethical—" Bonnie had told me of her attempt. She was still working on Linking spell in the periphery, but she said she wanted to extend her abilities "—but the damned thing isn't taking so well. Managed a reverse of the spell though," he said with a bright grin. "If ever it comes up, I can freeze blood, or make blood clot because I froze the subject's blood cells."

"You scare me sometimes, brother," Andrew muttered.

"I'm not the only one who thinks this stuff," said Jared. "I'm sure Micah's thinking of a way to turn that finger-flick thing of yours into a weapon."

"Of course," I said because it really was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Both of you scare me," said Andrew. He glanced at his watch. "When's this thing going to—" Blue light streamed from the sky in a straight light, slamming into the stone and stirring up rubble that was halted by my boundary. "Now we wait for the dust to settle before—" He was interrupted by a bolt of lightning, then another, then another and another. We watched as countless bolts of lightning hit the exact same spot for five minutes.

"I'm starting to feel connections," said Andrew. "I give it five, ten minutes before people's curiosity gets the better of them."

I sighed. "I'm going to be in big trouble when all this ends, but what worries me more is the fact all this is was a giant waste of money."

"But you have more, right," said Jared. "I heard how you got the money in the first place. There are plenty more vampires out there who'll want rings."

"Giving vampires more power is not something we should be doing," said Andrew.

I grinned at that. "Are we a we now?"

"I meant we as witches," said Andrew. "What do you think I meant?"

"Coven. You wanna do this? Be part of one of the most powerful lines?"

"I'm more powerful than you," said Andrew. "I don't think I'd get much benefit from that, especially since I have the feeling you'd want to lead."

"I have control issues, I've noticed that and yeah, I'd fight for a leading position. But as we are, there'll only be four of us. It can be democratic at least until we grow large enough that strict leadership is needed."

"I feel like you're vying for power," said Andrew. "Covens aren't just a gathering of friends. They're a big deal and you just deciding that you want us, is something that's awfully suspicious with the present climate."

I groaned, loudly at that. "I'm going to start really going crazy if people start eluding to the fact that I _might _be crazy. I want to build something and building this will mean power. If you two join my…the," I amended, "coven we'll be a circle. Earth, fire, air and water."

Andrew shook his head. "I'm sorry but no," he said. "Right now being around you is dangerous enough without us actively giving you a portion of our power. I'm not going to put my brother through all that."

"Every fibre in my being right now is drawing ways to manipulate that," I said. "Talk to Jared on a level I know you wouldn't and make him question what he wants, but doing that would start us off in a very bad direction. Which is the reason I'm not. Instead I'm asking you to see reason. I'm good enough with reading people to know when they want something, even if in this case they haven't seen it. You want power and the family that comes with being a coven, and I'm offering you that."

Andrew said nothing for the longest time before he sighed and returned to the bolts of lightning that were still hitting the exact same place. He said a quick spell and gave a horizontal slash and the lightning stopped.

"Let's pack up. Clear everything out and let everyone believe what they want to believe," he said after which we packed up in silence. My stone was destroyed, leaving nothing but an oozing dark blue liquid which, try as we might, we couldn't find anything to stick it in—not that we'd brought much.

As we were driving back into town, there were a few cars headed in the direction we were going but we didn't pay them any mind. The silence was terse and it felt as though Andrew had verbally sent me out of the car as he stopped at my house.

A Boundary spell framed the house. I was getting better, but my work with anchors still need some work because channelling the earth took too long and I couldn't shift the threads from myself to the anchor fast enough that the spell wouldn't degrade from its source of power. Then there was the little matter of actually finding an appropriate stone that could be infused with power. Emily's pendant, which could take a lot of power, was special and thus it would be the best thing, with the resources I had I could be able to know what sort of stone it was but that would mean giving the pendant to someone else. I wasn't comfortable with that.

The house was empty, which I'd expected. I took a breath and reached out around me, feeling over the strongest threads until the most familiar of which was in my grasp. The trick was one Jared had taught me and it was with that practiced hand that I twisted the thread and pulled my journal towards me. It took a moment before the journal flew from my room and appeared as though carried by an invisible hand. I caught it with my mind before walking to the couch and opening to the appropriate page and starting to jot down.

Battery: Electricity takes the path of least resistance. Something I know but forgot a few minutes ago when we were looking into my idea. Andrew made the thread—something that's particularly useful since it doesn't look as though it has the ill effect of the Spell of Motion—and the first bolt hit. Thereafter countless other bolts slammed into the chunk of rock before we had the mind to stop the spell.

As of yet it isn't clear why this didn't work. It could either that that Lapis Lazuli isn't that great at keeping power within it or it could the number of bolts but for the time being the battery test was a failure.

Something to look at when I'm not in trouble.

I sighed, closing the journal and recline, letting myself doze into thought. It would only be a matter of minutes before there would be a knock at my door and a while after I'd be carted off to a hearing with some members of the council. They'd called Bonnie, Andrew, Jared and I in after the week long douse Bonnie and Andrew had made, and warned us that we shouldn't do something that big, something the outside would find curious.

Of course I'd spoken against this. It didn't make much sense that we were given this limits. At the end of it, Bonnie and Andrew had fixed their mess. Unravelling the thick cluster of threads had taken a lot of work, all of us with the inclusion of Lucy, had had to channel each other to succeed but it had been a learning curve. Andrew had noticed that he'd given the threads too much settle and they'd mutated, drawing power from the storm itself.

Something I found interesting and something we wouldn't have known was able to happen if there hadn't been the blunder in the first place. My words, as was becoming habit, were thrown aside and I was told that they we working with the good of the town in mind, giving me no chance but to follow their orders.

I was starting to hate Mystic Falls and the people who ran it.

Not fifteen minutes and my prediction came true. Deputies Fred and Clarissa were my escorts as we moved to the town hall and to a meeting room. I took a seat and waited as a few of the council members walked, hearing low murmurs that were filled with tinges of anger. I might have dozed off again before someone clearing their throats got my attention.

"Let's start matters with the obvious question," said Claude. He was one of the many that looked both annoyed and exasperated at having been called here. "Are you responsible for the lightning thing?"

"Indirectly, yes," I said. "Andrew and I were trying to make a battery." There was silence. Expectant looks, most of which expected me to go on. "Witch business."

"Well, your witch business has got the town in a stir, little man," said Mr Fell. He wore a grin. "Personally I like this. Something for me to speak about. But in terms of the whole secrecy thing—"

"What you did was reckless," my dad said, not accusatory, just a statement.

I couldn't stifle my sigh. "I think everyone's overreacting," I said. "People have a strong aptitude towards dismissing the extraordinary and anyone who knows about the existence of witches and the like won't think much about this because they'll draw the lines and guess it's a witch's doing."

"You broke the rules," said Claude. "Not to mention that you were controlling lightning. Am I the only one considering how dangerous that was?"

"We're considering it," said Pastor Young. "But ultimately nothing went wrong and everything has been contained."

"Are we going to let him get away with this?" asked Claude, his tone of surprise.

"He's a witch," said Stefan. "We can't stop him from using his power and trying to do so will make him angry."

"Much though I agree with you, Stefan. I kind of don't like that you're talking as though I'm not here," I said.

"Not to mention it would set a bad precedent," said Mr Fell. "Micah and Bonnie can use their power when it benefits us but not them."

Claude let out a harrumph. "What do we do then?" he asked. "Hope he doesn't do it again?"

"Don't make it so flashy next time," said Mr Fell. "Jenna and I…well let's just say I was having fun before I had to make it here." He stood and disappeared from my vision. I heard the door close behind him.

"And next time you're going to make it rain," said another of the council members, his name had slipped my mind. "Tell us. The kids and I were going to have a picnic today," he muttered as he left in a huff.

"That did not go how I was expecting," I said as the room cleared and only Stefan and my father were left behind, though the former was making his way out. "I'd expected something dramatic, like them barring from using magic or something to that effect."

"Lucy warned us against that," said dad. "Said there were few things that might send a witch over the edge than trying to control their power. Everyone's being treading lightly around you."

"Me and Bonnie or me in particular?" I asked.

"To some affect the both of you, but you more so." Dad took a breath. "I told them about your clairsentience and what you saw for the future."

"I didn't see anything, dad. I just know."

He shrugged. "We're preparing to some effect," he said. "All of us in our own ways. Pastor Young reached out and found that there are magical practitioners in religious sects. Evangelists, they call themselves. He's been trying to get one or two to settle in Mystic Falls."

"How is that working out?"

"Nothing so far," he said. "Which is considered bad since we don't have a deadline to expect them. Just a vague threat in the future."

I shrugged at that. "I'm not sure when to expect them," I said. "I've been trying to think but what specifically calls them is something I'm not sure about."

"Broadly speaking you know though?" he asked.

"Yes. But I'm not about to say."

Dad took a breath, giving me a look I had become accustomed to. "We're not letting you join the council," he said.

"Then you can expect that I'll play this as close to the chest as possible," I said. "True that at some points I'll need your and their help, but if I can't trust to be in the decision making process, then I can't trust giving you the reigns in the first place."

"We're doing this for your protection—" he started but he stopped as I shook my head.

"I've never liked that, expecting that I'll let you protect me and then when I can do the same I'll just stand back," I told him. "I deserve to protect you as well."

"I'm the parent here."

"Even so." I stood, stretching. "I'm the one who knows what we're facing. You can't win this without me, the sooner you and the council see that, the better it is for everyone. For the time being I'll hope to get stronger." I started towards the door, my hands roving into my pockets before pulling out my phone.

"You've changed." My father's words interrupted me from my text. He stood, looking at me with keen eyes.

"I'm a teenager," I said, with a hint of confusion. "I think that comes with the territory."

He shook his head. "You're not the boy I've come to get used to," he said. He took a breath, running a hand over his short buzz hair. He, much like me, had taken to letting it grow out. "I think it might have something to do with what your grandmother and I did," he said, words slow and cautious, as though expecting me to blow up. I did the opposite, drawing into myself because I'd tried my best to bury those feelings of betrayal that had happened so long ago.

"More my fault than yours really," he went on. "But the differences are still something that's stark. Making me question if I ever knew the real you."

I had no words for that so I stayed silent, shifting uncomfortably where I stood.

"I'm sorry," said my dad and the words were filled with so much emotion that I felt uncomfortable. "At the time I really thought I was doing what was best for you. Your mother didn't like magic," he said. "She didn't like that she was different. I thought that the same would be said for you. That if you grandmother pushed you as hard as she did your mother you too would leave. It was selfish, I admit. But losing either you or Bonnie is the most painful thing I can imagine. Which was the reason I had your grandmother promise that she would not teach you young, that she would wait until you could knowingly make the choice before she began teaching you.

"I thought I knew better," he said, "and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry for the pain I must have put you through."

I don't like the next few minutes because they showed a side of me I had been hiding for the last month or so, the scared little boy who knew he was over his head but had been desperately trying to hide that from the outside world. Emotions that had been held back bubbled forward, fighting towards the surface until I couldn't keep them in.

I told my father I forgave him, something that took away a heavy feeling I had been hauling around so long that I hadn't known it was even there. We talked for a little while before I returned home, built a boundary around my room and allowed the upsurge of emotion to leave my system before I was fit for the outside world. Even then I didn't venture outside the house, choosing to stay inside until I felt I was stable again.

Something that meant my Sunday was spent indoor doing nothing but eating ice-cream and watching TV. Jeremy, Tyler and Matt joined me at some point and I had to watch a football match, something I didn't particularly enjoy but the ruckus helped me detach myself from my thoughts.

The school week progressed much as was habit. School and homework, Jared helping with creating links and me teaching him the basics behind boundaries, listening to conversations I couldn't hear on Anna's part and then reading over lore when it came to precious stones. It was boring, but then it was something. Jared and I had before been a great team, the guy had a mind for innovation that I wished I had, but after the conversation with Andrew, he'd been quiet, his eyes ever glinting with questions I couldn't read every time he looked at me.

Another month passed before, "Did you know that Elena was adopted?" asked Jeremy. The question caught me so off guard that I was confused for the longest time because my thoughts were two-folds: Yes, I had known, but it was the background knowledge that was only accessed when one was actively thinking about it.

"We promised you'd tell me everything," said Jeremy and he sounded upset.

"I can't rightly tell you things I don't technically know, can I?" I asked, feeling my own sort of exasperation. "And what does it matter anyway if she's adopted?"

Jeremy said nothing, thinking it over. "I don't know," he said and he paced. "I just…I would have liked to know sooner. Do you know who her parents are?" he asked.

I frowned and shook my head. "I don't know if I know or not," I told him, honestly. "I might know if I see them or something might click in the future. Right now, though, I don't know them."

"She's been looking for them," said Jeremy. "She and Stefan. She also knows she looks like Katherine."

"Which is good," I said. "Now I can move onto phase two." Jeremy stopped, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I pulled out my phone and texted a few people. Bonnie, Tyler, Stefan, Enzo, Matt, Elena and Caroline. An hour before they said they would arrive but Jeremy didn't want to wait that long. "You'll have questions, question everyone will be having. I'd rather not repeat anything."

I invited all the vampires in as they arrived. Lucy had been gracious enough to teach me the spell to make my own dimension and since it was under my partial rule I could make it so that it disregarded some of the laws of physics, in this case I had made it so no sound could leave the room.

When I had a full audience, I stood and began to speak. "I'm sure all of us know about my clairsentience at this point," I started and no one looked surprised, "so I'm sure that there's also a vague danger in the future also is know." Again there was no surprise, something I like. The one thing that could be depended on in small town was the grapevine and its reach. "I called all of you here because you're the people that I think would be able to listen when I speak, because in some form or another we're equals.

"I thought that we might call this the Junior Council but that's something I'm working against in the first place and irony was something I've never really understood, so for the time being I'd like to call it an informal gathering of allies, something that will help us survive what's coming."

"What is coming?" asked Enzo.

"Niklaus Mikaelson."

"Who?"

"One of the first vampires," I said, "and as such, strength-wise, one of the strongest vampire alive. But that's not what makes him dangerous. No. That lies in the fact that he would do just about anything to get what he wants, and in this case what he wants is in Mystic Falls."

"He wants you?" asked Bonnie, her voice hitching. I shook my head, my eyes darting towards Elena.

"Me?" she said, surprised. "Why?"

"He wants her power," said Jeremy, his voice shaky and looking as though something had just clicked in his mind. "That's why you told me. You knew?" I gave a nod.

"Knew what?" asked Caroline. "None of this is making much sense."

Bonnie explained how power for spells worked and she made the leap that since Elena was a doppelganger—I hadn't even known Elena had told her, and something Caroline looked taken aback that she hadn't been told about—she would be the source of extraordinary power.

"Power he can't use except if he has a witch," said Stefan. "Power he has no reason to use except if he's trying to achieve something. Do you know his end goal?" he asked me.

"He wants to break a major spell," I told him. I took my journal and opened it, flipping through the pages until I found the appropriate one. I'd taken to trying to remember all I could from the Vampire Diaries and jotted it down in my journal—I'd created a small form of Lucy's Boundary spell on the thing, making it so I was the only one who could read it. "I haven't managed to remember all the ingredients yet, but I know the basics. A vampire, a werewolf and a doppelganger. All of which have to die."

The room grew quiet. Deathly so and eyes darted towards and Elena that was doing her best in trying to remain strong. But that quickly ended as something else swept across the room, one of them could be used to break the spell, along with Mayor Lockwood.

"But at the moment that's not something we should be focusing on."

"Not focusing on the fact we might die?" asked Caroline, her voice shaky.

"Not yet," I said, my voice eerily detached. "What we have to worry about is Katherine." Stefan and Elena shared a look. Enzo gave me a meaningful one. I guess he could already see that ultimately this would lead to me releasing Damon.

"Who's she?" asked Matt.

"My doppelganger," said Elena.

"Damon's ex," said Enzo.

"Stefan's ex," I added. Elena didn't look surprised. He'd told her everything, which was bad really because it meant he could have told her about his Ripper days and I could lose some blackmail material. "But that's neither here nor there. She looks exactly like Elena and when she was still alive, she'd had the ability to break Niklaus' spell. It would have meant here dying and as proven by that she escaped the whole Tomb debacle, it's clear she's tenacious. She turned and has been running ever since with Niklaus chasing after her."

"She'll want to give Elena over to buy her freedom," said Stefan and I nodded. "But how would she know about Elena."

"Pearl," said Enzo. "That's why you released her."

"Keep in mind that all these names you're bringing up not all of us know," said Caroline, exasperated. "Explain to us who they are or all of this won't make any sense."

"Pearl is Anna's mother," said Stefan. "But she was in the Tomb."

I said nothing and looked at Bonnie, her eyes accusatory. "You opened the Tomb?" she said.

"Yes."

"We said we wouldn't open it," said Bonnie, here tone still heated.

"My hand was forced," I told her. "I had to act and having what Anna wanted most helped."

"But you didn't tell me," said Bonnie. "You tell me everything."

I swallowed and giving Bonnie a look that asked that we speak about this another time. She crossed her arms and set rigid against the sofa, her eyes radiating with disappointment as she looked at me. I'd known she'd be angry, but she would be even more so if she found out that I'd released Pearl and garnered a deal to save Damon from responsibility.

Clearing my throat I continued. "I released Pearl and have been giving Anna my phone to call her mother for the past two months. Obviously they've been planning an escape, but with the numbers we have Pearl would be stupid to come alone. Which is the reason I think she'll go for help. Katherine, in this case, and she might entice her with the small fact that there's a doppelganger and both Salvatores in town."

"Knowing Katherine she'll come here herself first," Stefan took over. "She'll make sure everything's prepared first, making sure none of us can leave or at least she'll have the requisites of the spell hidden before she brokers the deal with this Klaus guy."

I nodded. That was my thoughts on the matter.

"So what do we do?" asked Tyler. "Knowing all this is well and good, but how does it help us? How does it make sure we're not in danger?"

Feeling the connections I pulled and grabbed the bottles with my mind, moving the bottles so that they were each in front of a vampire.

"Vervain?" said Enzo, having taking his bottle and given it a sniff.

"Originals can compel other vampires."

"You want us to drink this?" said Caroline.

"Only way that you have a measure of protection," I said. "Beyond that I don't know. I'm good with working on the macro-level, but on the micro side of things I leave that all up to all of you. I've given you information you'll need. Made sure that word would take longer to reach Niklaus and that Katherine, the only person I know of who'd have reason to disperse the news about a doppelganger, is coming to Mystic Falls. I think I've done the brunt of the work all things considered and would like to get a decent amount of sleep before another of this sessions."

"So there's more?" asked Enzo, his voice a drawl.

"A lot more," I told him. "But right now that's in the far future, senior year or first year of college," I said. "At which point we'll all be stronger or some of us will be dead."

The statement was a punctuation. It was met with a brief moment of silence before there was speaking. The main speakers were Stefan and Enzo, and their main topic of discussion was Damon. I wasn't sure how much Stefan knew about Damon, but he knew something considering the way both he and Enzo were speaking. Fifteen minutes were spent with the both of them speaking before Jeremy chose to join in. They actually listened to him, something that caused me to smile a little especially as it meant that more and more people were joining into the conversation.

All except Matt in the span of an hour. I watched him and I saw for the first time that I had been overlooking him. Matt had been an important but of the Vampire Diaries universe, he was an apt hunter and the only person to survive everything still human. But right now, I couldn't find a way to make him fit in. This ultimately meant I couldn't shape him towards a goal.

I'd let it lie for the time being, let things take their natural course before I found a way for him. There were the Gilbert rings that had helped him in the show and they would ultimately help him now, but first I would need to get a hold of those and they hadn't appeared yet. Matter of fact, Alaric hadn't appeared yet.

The thought was pushed aside.

The gathering ended, many plans having been made and I had even jotted down a few so as to not forget. My memory was getting cluttered lately with the amount I had to remember and it helped writing everything down. It didn't help that I still had to go to school. I'd talked to my father about just quitting but he wouldn't have it and knowing there were already a lot of questioning things I would do, I'd thought it best to let this lie.

When the night had ended and early morning had come, I found myself standing outside the Mystic Grill.

"Fuck," Ben muttered as he exited. "I'd thought the smell was something my mind was making up and you weren't really here."

"I haven't used sage in a week," I said, aghast. "It should have disappeared by now."

He shook his head. "The stuff is still heavy on you. What do you want?"

"How would you like not to pay me?" I said, ignoring the question.

"I'd like it very much," he said. "A measure of peace in my immortal life seeing as you've already threatened that running would be futile."

"All it will take is three favours then," I said. "If you're up for it."

"How dangerous will these favours be?" he asked. "Because I'm not about to die for you."

"Not much, I think I said. They're quite simple too." He thought it over then nodded. "First favour is simple. Don't mention the favours to anyone except me."

"Okay. What's the second?"

I pulled out a bottle and tossed it at him. Ben caught it. "That's Vervain. Every morning you'll drink a small amount, at the end of the week you should have finished the bottle. You'll do this for three months."

"This stuff burns," he said.

"The pain is something you'll get used to," I told him. "You'll drink the portion every morning at seven, at which point I will be watching to make sure you drink it. I'll know if you don't." It was a lie but Ben didn't necessarily know that.

"What's the last?" he asked.

"I'm still working on that," I said. "But it won't be that hard. I'd advise you to start working on your compulsion though, I think you might need it."

I left, returning home to an empty home. Bonnie had left a note that she would be spending the night with Caroline and Elena. When I went to sleep I had the strongest feeling that things were coming together. If Niklaus did come, I'd be fuelled by the raw power that my knowledge could afford me.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty Two

Curiosity killed the cat. It's an expression I'd heard many times but never truly liked. Humans had achieved as much as they had through, in part, curiosity. Man before must have been curious at the glowing thing that enraptured his attention, been curious at the warmth that radiated off it and finally been curious at what would happened to meat if it was engulfed by the warmth that was flame.

In the end humanity had been better off because of the curiosity that had killed the cat.

But in some instance the saying held some truth behind it and I suppose the current predicament was one such where there was a greater chance that the cat, me, would get killed than humanity being better off. Be that as it may I was compelled by curiosity on multiple levels and I wasn't one to fight impulses that might lead to less unknowns.

Elena had been gracious enough to borrow me her locket, the Mikaelson locket, and she'd asked a favour in return when I'd asked for her silence. The locket was placed in front of me, bordered by four mounds of salt from which I would be drawing power, there were also three stones, each with a measure of the thread that had stretched from me. The stones weren't anchors in the way I liked, but tests showed that Lapis Lazuli could hold the Dimensional Boundary for five minutes before it was spent.

That meant in all I had fifteen minutes to sate my curiosity. No. I checked the stopwatch and saw that thirteen minutes left.

The process had been arduous. The Dimensional Boundary had been easy enough, the spell wasn't hard in and off itself more that it required an extraordinary amount of power, more power than I should have been able to manage as but I guessed Lucy didn't take into account that I had behind me the power of the Bennett talisman. After creating the boundary, making it so it would be akin to a cloaking spell to connections—the same way Lucy had done it when I had been trying to find her, she'd called it the indirect way of hiding oneself if they didn't have the penchant for threads—I'd have to untangle the cluster of threads that stretched from me to my Boundary spell, delicately moving them so that they connected to my weak batteries. The threads had kept breaking when I tried, something I guessed meant I was forceful when I tried to manipulate them, which meant that half my Sunday had gone to making these preparations.

I took a breath and clutched my hand around the talisman, saying the Tracking spell under my breath. At once threads from the talisman became clear, seven in all and most of them with enough weight that they would be able to handle having someone move over them, looking towards the other end, had I the power, I'm sure they would even be able to survive a firm pull.

But the threads had been allowed to develop over decades if not centuries, they would be strong. The strongest would belong to the Mikaelson mother. The talisman belonged to her and she had the strongest claim to it, but I didn't want to find her. The next step was the hardest; one of the connections would belong to Mikael himself while the others would all belong to the kids, two of those kids would most likely have witches by their sides.

I didn't want that. I wanted a target that I knew for sure would be in a coffin and most likely left alone. The answer came easily enough, Finn, but which of the threads would lead me to him? I took a breath and gave a feel of the threads, running over them a short distance before I pulled back. I remember that Finn had agreed with his mother about the whole Originals dying thing and the Mikaelson mother being proud of that, did that mean his would be the strongest with the exclusion of the husband?

I felt over the second strongest of threads and thought Mikael, the third strongest I followed. It took a second before a stately house appeared to me, sitting alone and surrounded by verdant forestry that looked as though it enjoyed a large amount of rain. I poured more power into the image and it jumped; I was in a room within the house and in the middle of the room were paintings of a blonde I knew as Rebekah.

The middle of the room was dominated by a coffin.

I'd found her and perhaps if I'd had a map I might be able to know her location, but this didn't tell me what Niklaus was doing or—

Someone rushed into the room, a tall and pale man with a heavy build. He looked at the coffin then he looked at me, his eyes turning white as he muttered a spell. I felt him hitching my connection and I quickly shirked back, stopping the push of power so he couldn't turn it against me. I pulled back, but I could feel a connection running parallel to my retreat. I tried cutting at the parallel thread with a quickly mattered spell but it was though I was up against a thread made of diamonds. I hastened with my movement until—the trance broke and it was at that moment that a dull thud reverberated, my salt line shifting but not breaking. My heart was beating fast against my chest, seat lining my brow and my mouth dry. I had the feeling that he hadn't seen me, but the fact that he'd had some way of feeling a connection that hadn't been directed at him was disconcerting.

Had I led them to Mystic Falls?

I shook my head of the thought. A map was needed to find the specifics of a person's location and the man hadn't had one. There was no way he could track me because it was unlikely that he would just be able to feel which thread I'd used to find Rebekah and since there wasn't a chance he'd seen me, there couldn't be any detective work done as well that might would lead him here.

Nothing would come of this, I was sure of it. But I'd learnt my fill. Niklaus had at least one which in his company and from the feel of how fast the man had worked he had an aptitude for linking spells, which meant I would have to prepare myself to those; earth, after all was weakest to those who channelled the wind, but where I was weak Bonnie would be strong.

Even so I couldn't rest on that. Though Bonnie was taking magic seriously, it still wasn't enough on my part. Where I practiced everyday so that I would have my spells down cold, Bonnie let other things get in the way. She chose cheerleading over learning magic, she chose a girl's night out over magic, she chose going on a date over magic…which was probably the reason I was still single. I focused too much on magic and didn't allow myself to make new friends.

I didn't care much about making new friends at present. There was a school to build in the future and the first phase of that was becoming as apt a witch as I could become. Three pops almost like popcorn interrupted me, the three stone had been spent. Cracked in half. From a magical standpoint they would no longer be of use. They stored a small amount of power in the first place and having broken the power they could hold would be even smaller.

Selling them would be the best option, at least get back some of the money I had spent.

Not even a minute passed before the salt line shifted, it was though an errant wind had blown through the house and scattered the salt circle so that it wasn't as tightly bound. I stood, stretching because I'd been sitting for fifteen minutes in the same position, and feeling my body popping with contentment.

Clink.

I stopped, because that definitely hadn't been the sound of popping joints. I looked around, sure that I was alone because Bonnie was out with Marcus tonight. Jeremy and Tyler, people who frequented my company, had gone training with Stefan, my father out doing his own thing much like Enzo. There should have been no clinking sound.

My eyes roved over the living room, stopping when the spotted the hole at the window. I started towards it, moving around the couch until I was at the niche behind that held access to the window. There was no one outside, just the house at the front with their lights on and a silhouette of a person I couldn't quite make out.

But there was a hole. A perfect hole that hadn't damaged the glass around it though without a doubt something had passed through it.

_Odd, _I started to think before I felt a pulse of air. A breeze that passed through me and that brought with it a discomfort. I frowned, still looking for whoever had thrown the rock when—

SNAP.

I screamed as threads were cut and I was hit by the backlash. Power that had been moving from me towards the spells I had running suddenly finding that its thread had been cut and doubling back. I stumble at the sudden influx of power, feeling the world shake and tilt around me. My breath came hard and panic seized me.

My head whirled back and forth looking for the cause of all the discomfort. I found nothing but still the discomfort persisted.

Clink.

Thud against a woody surface.

I looked and it was a stone, blue in colour and oval, a symbol drawn on it that was glowing a feint golden colour.

**Danger. **

But it was too late. There was the sound of an egg cracking and a whoosh that took me off my feet. I met the wall back first and slammed at the floor, coughing and chocking as air had been forced into my lungs. My back ached and still the effects of the backlash persisted, power still desperately trying to fulfil its purpose only to have to come back at the cut thread.

I shook my head and tried to focus, trying to breathe slowly and trying to get my brain to work. It was a hard task with all the impulses running through me, with all the questions I had and not to mention the confusion. My mind made a leap to the witch working for Niklaus but the thought was quickly dismissed as improbable. How could they have gotten here so fast? For that matter where were they?

Footsteps, heavy from the doorway. Two sets because the seconds was lighter. Even with the aches and my brain fighting every call to act I got to my feet, shouting for my fight instinct to take over. But my brain was running in loops, repeating the same question over and over: What is going on?

"Motus!" The man who had been walking into the living room was shoved by a violent force, ploughing through the window and being shot outside.

Second person stepped through the doorway quickly after the other. Female and a small gun in her hands. She pointed it my way and I reacted; pushing her back and slamming her into a wall, the gun flying from her grip. Whatever pain she might have felt she didn't show, as quickly as the gun had left her hand there appeared a small knife and it was being thrown my way.

"Vatos," I said, pointing at the knife. The force hissed as it moved through the room, like directed wind that picked up everything in its way. It should have been the same for the knife but it wasn't, the knife cut through the spell and there was no time to doge. I screamed as it plunged into my left shoulder, imbedding itself in bone.

Worse of all the girl had gotten clear before the force could hit her.

I stumbled back, my mind caught on the pain on my shoulder even as adrenaline fought to diminish its effect. _The kitchen_, my mind finally won over, the flight response having activated. I ran. Stumbling as the pain became fiercer. My heart picking up its fervent beating. I reached the kitchen and the door blew open of its own volition, only this time there was someone there, another woman with a gun.

"Vatos," I said just three shots rang out. The spell caught the bullets but before it could slam into the woman she said a phrase and her finger jerked a quick motion. The force turned and slammed into the cupboard, tearing it apart.

She was going to shoot again, I knew and I drew four lines with my mind, a quick spell muttered. The bullets hit an invisible wall, pinging off it and one managed to hit the woman. She winced, a fierce expression appearing on her as she quickly reached into her pocket and tossed out a blue stone.

I didn't stick around to see if it would pass the barrier. The other woman, caught me by surprised as I turned towards the stairs, a fist catching my jaw; my head snapped back and I clattered hard against the ground. There was no time to react as a leg slammed into my stomach, punishing all the air out and replacing it with pain.

A grunt left me, filled with pain and a dry sob. But the woman didn't stop here relentless kicking. I tried to concentrate, tried to push her away but the only thing that ran through my mind was her leg, her shin that was kicking me over and over.

"Ossox." A bone-breaking crack and the woman fell, her eyes meeting mine and fear overtaking her because I felt anger and it must have shown. I directed it forward and she screamed, in moments there was blood coming out of both her eyes, nostrils and ears before she fell silent, a glazed look in her eyes.

Every breath was pain, but the pain implanted one feeling in me: Stay alive.

Slowly I got up, feeling something as I did. One of my threads was slowly unravelling, being broken apart. I made the leap and thought about the woman. Reaching into the power of the talisman I flooded the thread with power, making it thicker.

_I've done this before, _I thought, my mind starting to get clearer. _I've done this before. _Quicker than ever before I took the thread and transplanted it to the talisman around my neck and within moments the thread gave no sign of ever being able to break.

_One more person outside._

I shuffled forward and dabbed my finger in the woman's blood, muttering a spell and the image hitting me. The man, his gun pointed towards something—_no doubt you! _My anger shot through the thread and hit the man full force, his gun fired but he didn't compensate for the recoil. It shot up, no doubt the bullet heavily off course not that the man was paying that any attention as he scream. I didn't abate until he was silent as his compatriot.

I fell back, pain as my strength left me, pain still radiating through me and my mind becoming a jumbled mess. All I wanted to do was sleep but my mind kept telling me there could be danger out there, that I had to call for help.

My phone in my pocket. Slowly pulled out and unlocked: 911.

A thread to my sister and a thread to my father and a thread to my best friend and a threat to a man I considered my protector: All of them viciously tugged.

"I'm going to sleep now," I slurred, telling my mind.

It responded that there could still be danger but I shook my head. I was in pain and when I slept that pain would diminish.

"I'm going to sleep now."

I didn't fight it as unconsciousness came.

* * *

AN: I think this is the third chapter this month, which means I can put this on the back burner for the time being and have time to work on my other works. This was the first witch battle. It was relatively short lived but it decided the pace that things are going to go before people get really powerful.

Everything should be explained in the next chapter. After all the witch isn't dead. I'm hoping this doesn't qualify as a cliff hanger, particularly when I might update next month again.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter at any rate.

-Stalker.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty Three

A hiss passed through gritted teeth as pain flared from my shoulder. I could feel my eyes moisten at the pain. It had significantly decreased since I'd first woken up, the curse on the knife still had its effect and even with doses of vampire blood being entered into my system every three hours, the wound was still slow to heal.

"You know there'd be less pain if you stopped moving the arm, don't you?" said Bonnie in a voice that was trying too hard to be without inflection. She sat on the couch next to me watching a show I'd lost interest in some time ago.

"Don't blame me," I said. "Blame my brain. It just hits me up with urges to spur the pain on, get a feel for it for some reason."

"I remember that the time I'd broken my arm," Bonnie mused aloud. "Always found it weird but the compulsion was always strong. There was almost a rush to feeling the pain."

"Doesn't that mean you'd be into BDSM?" asked Caroline.

"I don't think that's a conversation we should be having with present company," said Elena, her eyes darting towards Jeremy.

"Caught that," he said, "and do I have to remind you that you're a year older than me? There's not much you know that I don't."

"Vicki must be a really good teacher," I muttered and there was a pause, as though time had been stopped for a moment. Caroline's eyes bulged.

"You and Vicki Donovan?" she said. "That was true." She sat back, eyes far off. "I thought that was just some rumour."

Jeremy was glaring at me and it was with an almost crystal clarity that I imagined the tortures he wished he could inflict on me.

"I blame the drugs," I said. "Make me loose lipped."

"You're not on any drugs," said Bonnie.

"Semantics."

"Do you even know what that means?" she asked.

I shook my head. "But in this case it means let's just drop the subject before Jeremy turns the shade of a tomato." Looking at Jeremy, he was already a few shades short of such an action. That made me wonder, "I'm curious," I said. "Do you two ever have to go to the toilet?"

The girls reacted to the abrupt shift in conversation. I could see them confused by the transition but with Jeremy it was smoother. "No," he said. "Which is weird because I eat food something, terrible though it tastes, and I drink coffee. What are you thinking?"

"That vampires are perhaps the strangest creatures even where magic applies. You guys don't make much sense. You don't age and yet those who can grow beards, do grow beards; your hair continues to grow; your nails?" Jeremy shrugged. "Do you remember what Grams did when she was training us? That time spell?"

Bonnie nodded, but the others looked confused. "Grams could send things back in time," Bonnie explained. "But she'd have to record them first, set a specific point in their time to return to. She used it to mend broken jars and straws."

"Because that's not a major misuse of the ability to travel through time," said Jeremy, sounding aghast. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" he asked.

"Because I took a look at the spell and it's as complicated as hell," I told him. But with concern to me, anything that required channelling all four elements was complicated. The fact, though, that the spell worked by forming a link on the abstract point of time was something I couldn't do seeing as creating links from scratch was something I couldn't do.

"Anyway, I was thinking that the Immortality spell worked like Grams' spell. Fixing a vampire to a specific point in time, at this point their deaths. But why would it pick and choose which points to stick to a specific time while letting the others just go wild?"

"Not to mention the small fact that doing something like that would require a lot of power," said Bonnie. "Something which begs the question. Where do vampires get the power to sustain the magic that binds them?"

"That's kind of obvious," said Jeremy. "Blood."

"This is the part where you usually expand," I said.

"Lore says vampires are abominations," he started. "I personally don't feel like this, but then again I might be biased. Anyway, witches says were Nature isn't too big on our specie, which means she wouldn't give us any of her power. The next source of power would be blood. I'm guessing, with rarity and whatnot, human blood isn't all that powerful and so we have to feed a lot."

"That could be true," I said, running a hand at my chin and wincing as pain sparked. "The Originals were created from the blood of a doppelganger, so blood would tie heavily into how they needed got power. But wouldn't that mean drinking Elena's blood would halt the need for blood for a significant amount of time?" Something which hadn't been true in the series. The expression being shot my way filtered through. "Sorry, said the first thing which came to mind. My thoughts-mouth filters don't happen to be working correctly. I blame the drugs."

"You're not on any drugs," said Bonnie, slight worry in her tone.

"Semantics."

Jeremy was frowning as he said, "Do you even know what that word means?"

I shook my head. "But I'm hoping to diffuse this awkward situation I've gotten myself into."

"Mike," said Jeremy, slowly. "What's your greatest fear?"

"I don't see how that's relevant to anything," I said, frowning.

"Trust me," said Jeremy.

"Alzheimer's." I stalled, looking at everyone with a creeping sensation settling in my stomach. "Did I just forget something?" I asked and my heart was starting to beat faster, a sinking feeling starting to overwhelm me.

"You're just acting weird," said Jeremy. He looked abashed. "I thought that you might have been replaced or something. There was that one witch you told me about, who was good with illusions after all."

"The woman who almost shot me," I said. "You know, I should probably visit her, ask if she could teach me that trick of hers."

"Present climate isn't too big on you going off to some unknown witch," said Bonnie. "Damon's still out there and whoever he's with is very good at Cloaking spells."

I sighed at that. "Right. Him. It occurs to me that I should have probably chucked him in prison with Anna."

"Why didn't you?" asked Bonnie. "You never explained that and, honestly, I didn't care enough to ask."

Jeremy and I shared a look. "All of us having siblings I think we know the bonds of family. If I put Damon in prison, then there would have been less of a chance of him and Stefan talking, clearing the air and dispensing of bad blood. That didn't work out too well. He didn't kill anyone right? We're just looking for him because he's unstable?"

Jeremy nodded.

"That's good," I said.

"Good how?" asked Elena.

"He's going after Katerina. Which leaves us open to whoever tried to kill me." The air chilled. "I know they're witch hunters but they can't have just stumbled onto this town with the current population. Which means they were either pointed this way or they had a particular objective in mind."

"Killing you is objective enough," said Jeremy, he tried but his voice might have broken a little. It made me wonder what I had looked like when they had found me. Jeremy had died and yet thinking about what those three had done to me made him well up with emotion.

"Which is the reason you lot haven't let me out of the house," I said. It had been one week, five days of which I had been in a state of unconsciousness, and I hadn't once left the Gilbert house. It was annoying at the best of times, but given that they gave me space enough to practice my magic. Jenna seemed to be really interested in the things I could do, even with her boyfriend being a vampire.

"It's for your own protection," said Bonnie.

"I get it and I'm grateful, really." It gave me an excuse not to be outside for a while and I trusted Lucy's Boundary spells more than I trusted my own, more so since she'd taken into account the magic that must have gone into those little stones and said they would not be able to destroy the Boundary from the inside.

"Gives me more time just veg out on the couch," I said reclining further into the couch and paying attention to the TV show. It quickly grew boring and I found my thoughts wondering into the things non-substantial.

Hours passed and day soon turned to night. It was the a weekday but the way we went to school was sketchy enough that the principal Mr Ashwood, had been introduced to everything and told on the spell which had been placed around the school. Another human into the fold and it further skewed the power between human and supernatural.

I took a breath and fixated on that fact. For the most part I was still out of the know, even though I had been the one directly in danger it still held true that _they _sought to protect me by keeping me in the dark. The need to do _something, _though was still strong and since I didn't have any information on the people who had tried to kill me, I could focus on the politics of Mystic Falls.

The night's air was humid, which was a change for the first time in many a night. Jeremy was in my periphery, sitting on a small chair and watching me from a distance. I sat on the ground, two circles of salt in front of me and connected by a line that was too made of salt; both circles held a vase, it was similar enough in appearance that I could trick myself and say that they had been made by the same hand.

I took a breath and began: It was the same spell that allowed me to feel out threads between everything. I mostly used it from myself to others, giving them power and them pulling them towards me. This time I focused on one of the vases, feeling out every thread that stretched from it.

There weren't many and the strongest thread was whispery, fluttering with the wind but tied to the vase in the other circle. I pushed power into the thread and it grew rigid, having enough weight that it fought against the wind which before it had been a plaything to; more power and the thread grew thicker, stretching so that it was parallel to the line of salt.

I tested it, running a hand over its length and feeling out any part which frayed or was put under strain, those parts I gave more power to.

I let out a breath when I'd finished and my vision returned.

"Motus," I said, reaching for power from the Bennett talisman. I raised the left of the two and the rightward vase mirrored the motion. "Vatos."

The vases shattered in the same instance, pieces clattering towards the ground.

"Ten minutes," said Jeremy and he sounded bored. "You shaved off a minute."

"I'm getting better," I said with an amount of pride, coming to a stand. I gave a flick of the hand the sand flew into the wind, dissipating, the same could not be said for the vase.

"You know you're going to have to learn a spell to fix all this," said Jeremy.

Jared had told be the basics of fixing things and though the task was daunting it would be practise. I sat back down and focus on the left most pieces. The thread still existed between the two and thus fixing one would mean that other would be fixed too.

The vase had before been one entity, now it was shattered into a myriad of pieces, those pieces though still held an image of what they had been before. Much like a puzzle still had the original image though it was broken up into smaller pieces. I found a frayed thread that connected to pieces, filled it with power and shortened the thread until it was near non-existent.

I repeated the process until I was done.

"Two hours," said Jeremy and as I stood I could feel the strain on my body, having sat in the same position for the last two hours. "Can we be done now? I'm not tired in the normal sense, but I wouldn't mind going to sleep."

"You don't need to watch me," I said. I didn't feel like sleeping because the nightmares were back, of those guys who'd tried to kill, Anna, my grandmother and more frequently were all the feats Damon Salvatore had inflicted on others in the series.

"Seeing as you might do something stupid, it's the safer option."

I took a breath and let it out in a sigh. "I'm getting annoyed of being watched over."

"You need a guard," said Jeremy. "We were stupid before. We should have taken the threat that others saw you as a danger more seriously. That mistake isn't something we're going to be doing again."

"There's a boundary around this place," I said.

"I'm one of the few people who don't underestimate what you're capable of," said Jeremy. "I'll feel safer sleeping when you're sleeping."

Another sigh and I winced as I moved my arm, the hand having moving to smooth a creek in my neck.

"I'm not a child," I said. "You have no idea how _not _a child I am. Right now, scared as I am of everything, I'm at a precipice, with only the smallest of wind threatening to send me over the edge. I was attacked. Almost killed. Why? Because other covens are making their moves, trying to stop a threat that I haven't made myself out to be. I can probably try and stop them. If I have enough power. I'm sure I can stop them. But I find that at every point someone is standing in my way." I took a breath, calming myself in what had become a heated tirade. "You've never stood in my way before, because you had enough reason to know that I'm always thinking about the future, about threats and how best to stop them."

"Had," said Jeremy. "But when it came down to it, you couldn't protect yourself." There was heat in those words. "I've been around since the beginning," said Jeremy, "and that's afforded me time enough to look at your ability. Check it for any weaknesses and you're your own weakness. You have a blind-spot when matters relate to you; which is the reason you were able to miss them almost killing you."

I was quiet, of its own volition my mind was seeing the truth in his words.

"You made me a promise," he said. "That we'd stick together for eternity. I'm going to make sure you keep that promise, which means I have to be there, now more than ever. You want to do something, but you don't feel comfortable doing it around me. Get comfortable because I'll be there to point out when you're doing something that has the potential to have you killed."

"Living has the potential to get me killed," I said. "Fumos Extas," I said, reaching into the power of the talisman. Lucy had used an unknown power to make the spell, but it was putty against the power of the talisman.

"What are you doing?" said Jeremy, suddenly at my side.

"I'm going to channel my ancestors," I said and I began walking forward.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty Four

My skin itch and there was a sense of invigoration that filled me. The world seemed more vivid, every sound slightly magnified and there was the general sense that I was more comfortable than I should have been.

"You have no idea the forces you're dealing, boy," said Grams. She stood in front of me as though she were still alive, her expression stern but a glimmer in her eye which might have been worry.

She wasn't the only one. There were over a dozen female witches all of them looking at me with ranging expressions, from worry, distaste and excitement in others. They were my ancestors and their power was running through me now.

"I don't," I said, truthfully.

Linking spells weren't my speciality, but I was getting accustomed to Boundary spells. The Other Side was the largest Boundary I knew and it operated under the same general guidelines: It either kept something in or out. It generally worked on the threads connecting it to its power source. If the threads were within the boundary then nothing on the outside could break them, if they were outside then nothing within could break them. But the method almost everyone knew about was blustering through them with a spell with more power than whatever was fuelling the boundary.

"But I'm in danger," I went on, "and I need power to make sure I survive this."

"Our power comes at a price," said one of the witches.

"I guessed as much," I said. "What do you want then?"

"Rude," one said, she looked as though she were the oldest, periodically speaking.

"Ours will be a relationship," said another. "We will ask for certain acts to be performed to further our own objectives. You will be given time to make sure they're done but ultimately, should you not do we will rescind our power."

"I'd expected that much," I said. "You'll also have rules I'm guessing. What I can do with _my _magic and whatnot?"

"Your clairsentience," said one of the witches.

"In some part," I said. "Clairsentience gets me the pieces, but I do most of the work. I'm the one who looked for the small parts I can use and effectively use them. Now for example. I'm telling all of you that some of you rules. I won't follow."

The air almost chilled, frowns appearing.

"One thing above all else, this is _my _ability to perform," I said. "You lot, as insensitive as it sounds, can't do that. You need proxies to work for you. There's power in recurrence. I'm spit balling, but I think even in the abstract sense of passing power to the next generation there might be a little power boost involved.

"The only Bennetts you have to choose from are me and my sister. She's not going to be accepting any of this power any time soon because she fears it. I'm willing to. I'm willing to do what you ask of me, but if you guys try and stop me from bring back my family and friends back from the dead while I can. I'm sorry but I won't accept that. Full disclosure."

I waited, feeling a pit of worry because no matter how much I said otherwise, I'd feel safer if I had the power to protect myself. The urge to swallow, to shift or to cast my eyes nervously through the population, hit me but I held it back. Putting on a façade that I knew how this would play out and I head gone into this situation with that fully in mind.

"Tempering with the balance is not something we can rightfully accept," said one of the witches. "Even if we want to affect the world, see certain aspects change."

"The powerful set the terms of balance," I said.

"That's exactly what the witches fear," said a witch. "They fear that this will be a repeat of those before you. Those who spoke off the possibility that Nature might not exist and thus said they weren't bound by her rules."

"I can get the appeal," I said. I hadn't meant it but the words slipped out. The signs were clear that I was making enemies. "With the excuse of Nature's will we have accepted a lot of crap that could have been changed. We are prejudicial against other supernatural creatures because they are against Nature. We can't efficiently protect ourselves because to kill is against Nature's will. Not mentioning the fact that we have the power, but we let countless die because to tamper with the _balance _is against Nature's will."

"The balance protects us all."

"The _balance," _I said, heat tinging my word, "is stupid. Defend it to me. Defend why we should die when we are able to set circumstance so that not only us, but everyone, can live for ever. It would be utopia after a fashion. Logistics issues aside. I mean there's the chance of overpopulation but if we can channel the sun and that's visible on other planets. We could change the environment to better suit up. Maybe send vampires there first to get the initial grunt work out of the way. It would probably take a few hundred generations but time would be something none of us worried about. There'd be the issue of—"

There was a finger snap and my stream of thoughts broke.

I gathered a coherent stream. Focused on the now because my ideas would mean nothing if I didn't survive all of this. I needed to make my point while still looking sane _from their point of view. _

"The Bennett madness has already hit you," said the oldest. "I've seen this before. My brother was one of the last before we were forced to leave. At its worst he will be dangerous."

"Having radical ideas doesn't make me crazy," I said.

"You're not helping your point by being rude," she said. "We may not have your gift, but we've lived long enough to be able to read people. You're not fooling anyone with this act."

I only shrugged. "I have other avenues of getting power," I said. "I came here first because it would be easy. You power isn't just primal, there's a sentience to it. Even so, if I don't get that power. Then I've already began measures that will make sure I survive. This isn't a façade."

"You're different," said Grams.

Another shrug. "I'm no longer bound." There was resentment in my tone and it looked as though Grams had been doused with liquid oxygen.

"We have a decision to make," said a witch. "Whether or not he keeps the power we've gifted him. We vote."

I wasn't sure how to take her tone, she seemed to go out of her way to avoid inflection, standing deathly still and talking only so much as she needed.

"For," she continued. Seven raised their hands. "Majority for. He gets to keep the power. We'll be watching, though, young Bennett. I think many have taken pity of you on account of being a loophole. But your _pervasion—" _decided. I don't like her "—means you might lose favour. It would be in your best interest that you didn't disappoint us."

"You're threatening me," I said, standing. I really didn't like her and that would colour all this. I wasn't thinking clearly because I felt slighted. "It doesn't work that way. I let you threaten me then you'll think you hold some power over me. You don't. Don't trick yourself into thinking otherwise."

The woman grinned and that grinned spoke to a wilder part of me, it told me to fear the predator. She disappeared without much fanfare.

"Allowing you to see us is something we can only do once," said a witch. "Especially so large a crowd. We will have a representative deliver messages from now on, the strongest amongst us."

All but one disappeared. Grams. I didn't know what to say to her.

"You're playing a dangerous game," she said. I said nothing. "It looks a lot like chess from my perspective and that has me worried. You've never been good at chess."

"I know," I said, "and I know my problem well enough. I can't predict what the player will do and when I think I'm about to win I focus too much on the moves I need to make while ignoring what my opponent is doing. This won't be the case. If anything equate all this to checkers. No piece is a pawn and each is equally useful."

"Be careful," said Grams.

"That's the plan."

She nodded and then disappeared.

I let out a breath and a tension I hadn't noticed left my shoulders. I stood and collected the candles, the bowls and some of the herbs that which hadn't withered putting all of them into the back. I said a spell and waved a hand, moving the lines of salt so that they scattered with the wind.

"I'm your brother," said Jeremy, "so I can say this without fearing the repercussions. You're an ass when you go all clairsentient-Micah."

"If you hadn't just called me your brother," I said with a grin. "I might have cursed you."

"What now?" he asked.

"Go back to the house and wait until morning. Tell Bonnie that I did this and then I'm going to go speak to the witch hunter."

"Your dad isn't going to agree to that."

"I know," I said. "But I'm done listening. I have a measure of knowledge of the future. I know what's best more than they do. It's time to show them that the power they think they have over me is non-existent."

Jeremy nodded sagely. "So you're going to be an ass," he said.

"Most likely." We entered the car. Jeremy, with the much faster reflexes, drove.

"Heard your comment about living on another planet," he said.

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "I like the idea. But you know it would require everyone being in the now right?" I nodded. "How are you going to play that?"

"It's one of the things I have absolutely no idea about," I told him. "There's science involved I'll have to learn, incorporate into the spells and countermeasures, before anything concrete can come out of it. But this is the reason I want a school. There are smarter witches out there, people that just need a progressive community to comfortably speak their more outlandish ideas. My school could do that."

"It's a pity that even before we have that started we have to face all this," said Jeremy.

"If this weren't so personal I would outsource," I said. "Much as I did with your sister. Let all of you think it over while I focused on other things. Getting stronger and smarter for one. How are things on that front, anyway?"

"Stefan has friends he's got looking out there," said Jeremy. "Bonnie made this spell that marked Elena, made sure that the doppelganger won't be able to pass herself off as Elena. She's also working on something that will detect _any _supernatural creature but the spell is proving complicated. There's the training with Stefan and Enzo. Stefan's a better fighter but Enzo's teaching us pain tolerance.

"Also there's this trick Stefan taught me. I think about a scenario. Envision it completely from the sights, sounds, scent and touch if I'm imagining a situation needing touch. Then pushing it into the mind of others."

"Yeah?"

Jeremy hummed. "It works on vampires too. It should supposedly work on witches, or at least that what Stefan guesses. Hasn't been able to prove it though. No witch is even willing to let me try." He gave me a sidelong glance.

"Okay," I said, "but I'll need a jar's worth of your blood."

"Why?"

"I want to start learning to channel blood without arousing suspicion. Bonnie would label this dark magic, probably, and I'm not in the mood to further the divide between us. You are more logical, in a manner. You know you should judge on merit not labels."

"The compliment means I'll ignore the obvious manipulation," said Jeremy. "Why not? It could mean that if things don't work out in the long run with the witches you might just channel me full-time. I'm sure Enzo would be up to it."

"Things with Enzo are tenuous at best," I said. "He's only half here. I think it might be the whole Damon situation."

"Or that Caroline is playing hard to get," said Jeremy. I gave him a look. "You miss a lot when you're focused on witch business. Not to mention the concept of flirting is something that often goes over your head."

"Thanks for that," I muttered.

We got back to the house without much trouble and he hadn't been noticed. I found the room designated as my own and slept a tired sleep, having closed off the room in my own boundary spell and having used the power of my ancestor I couldn't help but sleep better.

There were still the nightmares, the sense of unease, but it was dulled to a point.

I didn't wake up until late even the next day. There was no comment on the fact, to them I was still recovering and thus needed a lot of sleep to repair the magic. I didn't know if this equated to magical injuries but there was no reason that it shouldn't.

"You broke my barrier," said Lucy. "You know that doing that made it weaker, right?"

"I didn't," I said. "But I've made a note. I did break your barrier and that was partially for my sanity."

"What about the other part?" she asked.

"I needed power. There was power just lying in the graveyard. I channelling my ancestors."

Lucy grinned. "Good on you, kid," she said. "You should have called though. Spirits can be pushy. They didn't get you to do anything you didn't want did they?"

Jeremy snorted. "Getting that out of Micah is like pulling teeth out of a chicken."

"Got it. Did they ask anything yet?"

I shook my head. "But I'm expecting they do. I'm thinking it will be on the realm of procreation standpoint. Ensuring I have a child and thus they have a continued lineage."

"Right," said Lucy. "I'm not going to say anything with concern to that because you're my kid cousin. Anyway. Don't break the spell again. It can only take so many hits before even the errant wind can blow it apart, and this thing took a lot of power to do. How did you break it, anyway?"

"I have a battery."

"Explains a lot. You're not going to tell me what it is, will you?" I shook my head. She grinned further. "Climate like this, that's the sort of attitude we need. Trust none but those you know best and even then there's the chance they might can tempered with so stay on alert." Lucy reclined. "My barrier's not the only reason I'm here though," she said. "You're father's not going to like me, but I think we've kept you out of the loop long enough.

"It took us a while to bluster through you boundary. Even cutting the threads was the hardest thing but we managed it. We subdued her easily enough—no offence kid but she wasn't that powerful—and moved her to the station, stronger quality of spell and it means her friends will have a harder time getting to her."

"Did she say anything about why she was after me?"

"Witch for hire. They were contracted by one of the neighbouring covens to take care of you. You haven't exactly been letting the sleep well with the stuff you've been doing with the weather. Rain. Fire, after a fashion. The next would be earth and wind. Tornado and earthquake. They feared you might do that next."

"I don't even have a concept of how that might be possible," I told her.

"They don't know that. From their perspective you're the enemy. I'm guessing they've gone to lengths not to even try and meet you so that you don't appear human."

"Covens," I said. "Plural. How many?"

"Three. The largest with seven witches. A powerful number."

"Crap," muttered Jeremy. "He's getting that face." I spared him a look. "You're about to think of attacking them back. Dissuade them through force. That almost never works."

"True," said Lucy. "It wouldn't be the smartest of ideas. You'd be going in unknowing of what they can do and if you succeed in doing anything against them it means more covens will be scared of the power you've already amassed at your age, being more forceful."

I sat back. "That sorts of limits my choices. Being passive and reactive. Two things which I find extremely unacceptable."

"Let me do the work," said Lucy. "I have friends. I can scare them, show everyone that the Bennetts and all the friends they've made through the centuries are willing to band together to protect you."

"What do I do in the meantime?" I asked.

"Keep learning. Get powerful. Give them a reason to be scared."

I was finding that I looked Lucy more with everything she said. But then again she was at the point in her life where she was both an adult and a teenager; wise and still remembering what it was like to be young.

"Best be leaving then," she said. "Start planning ways to scare these covens with only three people including myself."

"Before you leave," I said. "I need help with Linking spells. I want to be able to form one from scratch. Do you have any tips?"

"The first part is convincing yourself of the links which exist between objects. This is particularly hard because the brain will just tell you that you're lying, that's not true. But stretch it out, make it as convoluted as possible but in the end you should believe that it's all connected."

Lucy held up two fingers and slashed it across the air. "I just linked the table on with the roof. When the table was bought it was bought explicitly for this house. The buyer had an image in mind of how it would fit with the overall scheme. Fuelled by that idea. I drew a line that I thought _should _exist and filled it with power. Since intent is everything in this world and I was deliberate in what I was doing, the universe had no choice but to yield and allow my thought to be reality."

"I can't help but think that's a whole lot more complicated than your explanation," I said.

"A lot more," she said. "Spades more complicated. Being of the earth, we're more grounded in reality. Seeing the world as is and not trying to convince ourselves otherwise. Forming tangible enough links isn't something that comes naturally to us. We have to force it. Change our minds from being grounded and stubborn to accepting that nothing is impossible. More so to a witch. More so to a Bennett witch."


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty Five

The power I had afforded me a much larger range. Where before I had been able to draw a boundary of my property in one iteration of the incantation, I was now able to stretch that range to something as big as the Lockwood Estate. But the fact that I was thinking like this was a major inhibition on my part.

I'd liked the aspect of being best in defensive magic because it would mean I would not be in the thick of it all, but more times than not when I had to build a boundary I had to be in front of that range, picturing its borders and drawing the lines in my mind. Why though did I have to do that? I felt almost like an idiot for not having made the connection sooner. There was a way to spell things from a distance. Tracking spells seemed to work in this respect and I had used a similar method when I had been attacked: The man had been hiding, out of the range of my eyes and thus the Pain Infliction spell wouldn't affect him. But in the spur of the moment fuelled by the need for survival I had used the girl's connection to him and run the spell through it.

Similar to how Bonnie had summoned a storm from a news report.

Using sympathetic magic or representative magic as was the case—I'd been sifting through Wikipedia on magic and the types which existed in the world—I could maybe use a map and to build a boundary around a house I was not standing in front of. In theory is should work, I was sure about this. But there was the small thing of abstracts. Sympathetic magic, which was about bonds and links, was linked to the element of wind or air and boundaries were linked with the earth.

I wasn't sure how yet, but I got the feeling that using counter elements would have the strong likelihood of creating some large loophole that would make the spell as easy to break as it had been to create.

Which was the reason I had Jared looking over my notes on the idea. Andrew didn't like him being here but Jared was a teenager just starting to be in his rebellious phase, my words had made an effect. I still wasn't sure whether I'm meant to or not. Remembering the conversation, I'd made a point not to say it directly but I'd essentially caused Jared to question what his parent-figure told him to do or not do.

I was getting lost in my schemes and I didn't trust to keep them in written form. My memory wasn't the best. But thinking in broad terms I would be able to piece together most things I've said and done. It helped that my mind was the only place I trusted the information couldn't be accessed.

My words to Jared and the fact that we thought alike, save that his mind worked much faster than mine and without the help of knowing the future, had caused him to speak against his brother barring him from coming here.

"It could work," he said. "I mean the rules of it are sound but there are a few problems. First the most obvious. This piece of paper would the weak link in everything. Once someone got their hands on it, they'd just have to destroy it and the spell with it."

"Like voodoo dolls," I said.

He nodded. "Then there's the fact that this paper wouldn't be able to hold a spell intact. You'll be using a lot of power on something that's, first of all, paper thin not leaving much room for the paper to work. Then there would be issues of quality and the tree used to make the paper. I think trees less that common would hold a lot more power and thus you could create a larger boundary using it or a tree with some ties to magic."

"I'll make a note to Google trees made for making paper," I said with a sigh. There was nothing I hated more than having to research; having to sift through a load of data for a few measly scraps of information that might be useful.

"There might be something in Druidic folktales," Jared noted. "Trouble is, it's hard trying to find out which is myth and with is truth."

"Tell me about it," I muttered. "My grandmother told me there might be legit spells on the internet. Maybe witches trying to leverage power. Get amateur witches with something small, wanting something big and getting them to join their coven in exchange for that something big. Anyway I tried searching for spells. Even small spells that I didn't know and weren't in my family's set of grimoires but the amount of nonsense on there is amazing. Wasted three days before I got bored with it all."

"There was bound to be something useful, though," said Jared. "Long run. Increase your spell range."

I shrugged. "There's stuff to deal with, now, so I can't afford to put my hopes on that chance. How has your stay been in Mystic Falls, anyway. I'd thought with what happened your brother would have carted the both of you out of town."

"He tried," said Jared. "But I like this. All of this. For the longest time I had to wait for Andrew to be taught a spell, then he'd judge whether I was ready or not to learn it before he taught it to me. That's if he had time. When work at university didn't swamp him. But right here and now. I don't have the same restrictions. I'm able to make the advances I want to make and there's someone who's at least two steps behind me instead of five."

"Not sure whether to take that as a compliment," I said.

"It is," said Jared. "More than you know. Anyway I've talked to the principle of your school. It helps that he's in the know and willing to smooth things over for a little magic perk—he wants a boundary built around his house—any our parents left us enough money that we'd be able to rent a place and I'd be able to get a part time job or use the scheme with the whole vampires thing to make some money."

"That would be dangerous," I told him. "Particularly here. You'd be inviting vampires with the present climates. It would leave a lot of people uncomfortable."

"Which is the reason I'm telling you this," said Jared. "You have a measure of influence and that ability of yours would mean could find some way of making it work."

"You're thinking we become business partners?"

Jared shrugged. "I don't buy into the whole thing about vampires being mindless abominations bent on destruction. Mystic Falls has shown differently. There would need to be a screening process, which might be easy with your ability, before we sold them the rings."

"You're speaking as though you know the spell," I said. It wasn't as easy as that and my mind was already trying to draw up ways to counteract this large flaw in the ability I had named for myself. Jeremy had started to see through the flaws and it wouldn't be too long before someone else find it out and before long my _ability_ would be useless.

"I don't," said Jared. "But I have something that you want." I raised a brown. "Me," he said sounding a bit annoyed.

"You?"

"Yeah. You said before that you wanted my brother and I to join _your _coven. He didn't want it but if I join, if we're bound together to share our power, then it wouldn't be too long before he joined too."

"I don't know how I should feel about you manipulating your brother like that," I said.

Jared shook his head. "I'm not manipulating Andrew, I just know him. I can predict him. I know how he would act in accordance to my actions. This is solely for my benefit. I want to learn about magic without restrictions. I want to stretch my abilities further than has ever been done before. I want to create something epic. Right now, with all I've seen, you're the closest I can come to that without having to wait until I'm at least eighteen."

I was quiet for a long time, thinking the matter over, letting my mind have free reign on the threads it decided to move along. I liked Jared. He was smart and creative and he picked magic up far easier than I could, but that might have something to do with his elemental affinity. I wanted someone like that in my coven because he served long term usefulness.

There was the problem of Andrew. He didn't like me since making the comment, so much so that his and Bonnie's budding relationship had suffered. He was antsy and wanted to leave, something I didn't fault him for because Mystic Falls was dangerous right now. If I allowed his brother an avenue to stay here, then he'd go from not liking me to loathing me.

Bad in the long term truth be told because he was older, smarter and more powerful. He could usurp power within the coven when it became large enough and making him hate me would mean he would be more inclined to do so.

Even with that in mind though, I needed a coven. I didn't forget that one which had a limit to how much power they could channel on their own, a coven would afford a way of spreading out that power, but making sure it was there when I needed it. Right now there weren't many witches willing to join the coven, or be ruled by what they would see as a boy.

Pros and cons considered, right now I needed numbers and Jared was offering a handy way of getting them.

"Sure," I said, finally coming to a decision. "But first we'll have to talk to Bonnie. See what she thinks about starting a coven."

Jared grinned. "So, does this mean I'll get to look at your grimoires?" he said. "I've never really seen one except Andrew's journal, and much thought I love my brother, his mind doesn't make much sense."

"All things I want discuss with my sister," I told him. "Forming a coven is sort of a big deal. Especially with the message it will send out to other covens in the area. Bonnie's not big on making aggressive statement and after the whole channelling ancestors thing, I need to tread lightly in what I do without her input."

Jared frowned at that and I could see he didn't entirely understand my reasoning but he just shrugged.

"What are you doing for the rest of the day?" I asked him.

"Nothing. Chill maybe. Watch TV. Do you have something in mind?"

"How much do you know about the Other Side?"

"Not much save its where dead supernatural creatures go," he said. "Sounds like some giant boundary spell all things considered, but it's naturally occurring right? So I might be off on that."

I shook my head. "A witch created it," I said and the look Jared shot me was of unfeigned disbelief. He was probably running the numbers in his mind, how much power it would take to build something that large, the mental strain one would have to put one with to make it stretch on a worldwide level.

"That's impossible," he said. "Something that big…"

"I know," I said, a large grin on me. "But it's true and I want to make something like the Other Side. An alternate dimension of sorts."

Jared was shaking his head. "Not saying I entirely believe, because what you've just told me is really impossible," he said. "But how would you even go about something like that?"

"I have a starting point," I said. I grabbed my journal and flipped my journal over until it turned to the section of Lucy's boundary spell. Jared took the journal and looked it over. "That would be our starting point. That spell works on an abstract level, but it shows that alternate dimensions can be created."

"So you want to make it distinct," said Jared. "So that people on other sides of the metaphorical veil can't interact." I nodded. "The uses to something like this would be incredible. It would help out with the whole prison thing this town is doing. Maybe a prison dimension."

"Amongst other things," I said. "But my primary reason was for creating Hogwarts." Jared stopped, looking at me. "We both feel the same way. There's no real reason why we have to go to school because at the end of it all we'll be more entrenched in the magic world that in the _muggle, _for lack of a better term. Learning about magic could open up avenues towards making money. We could find ways in which we could function without having to resort to menial muggle labour."

"Dude," said Jared, interrupting me. "You had me at Hogwarts." It was the first time I'd seen him showing an outward display of emotion and he was grinning like a loon. "I'm going to be a Founder," he said, slowly, his grin stretching further.

I couldn't help but feel that J.K. Rowling had truly messed up the new generation of witches. It was maybe true that there were other stories with boarding schools with magical students, the Percy Jackson series came to mind, but none had made an impact such as the Potter-verse to shape a minimum of three generations. It made me think that maybe my school idea would be easier to reach with how almost everyone wanted the sort of atmosphere in those books—barring almost being killed on a yearly basis.

We started talking, breaking down the spell and the effects Lucy's spell had on both a magical and physics level. Our conversation flowed for the most part we were talking about how the aspects of magic would interact but as we got to the physics of it things started getting awkward. I knew the basics stuff and so did he but when we were forced to start thinking about how it would work with the same photon of light would have to illuminate two different dimension we decided that perhaps building this thing would have to wait until we got some more knowledgeable in the subject before we got to work.

My phone buzzed through the our fervent discussion, a text from Jeremy that Mason Lockwood had come back to town and that the man was a werewolf. I couldn't help thinking how the man would deal with his nephew being a vampire. Vampires and werewolves didn't have the best of relationships in the first place but that wouldn't have been evident to Mr Lockwood who didn't know about the wolf culture; to Mason all this would be different.

I was a little curious about the conversation but that curiosity would have to abate because there was no appropriate way to channel it. I couldn't help but feel curious though about what had caused him to come back into town. There was always a reason why something happened and in a fictional sense that _something _often coincided with either the plot of the week or the greater plot arc.

Perhaps it was a little paranoia on my part but paranoia was something that could save my life.

"Question," I said. Jared looked up, he'd been watching the TV with the corner of his eye while reading some of the notes we'd made. "How do we fight?"

"I don't understand the question," he said.

"How do we fight?" I asked again. "When I was attacked I remember riding mainly on instinct, not thinking things through, but right now I can't think of a way I might fight one of my own kind."

"Witches don't normally fight each other," said Jared. "But…I'm guessing offensive spells?" He was quiet for a long time, his expression far off before he gave another shrug. "I've honestly never thought about it. I don't even know that many offensive spells and the one I do know has the potential to kill a regular person, big no-no." He ran a hand through his head. "You thinking about attacking a coven?"

I shook my head. "That's too dangerous. The witch I was able to bind was weak," I told him, "or at least that's what Lucy told me. But she could fight. She redirected my spells and she had these small stones she threw that did something to me. All the threads I had running were viciously cut. Emphasise of the viciously. Have you heard anything about that?"

Jared shook his head. "I'm knowledgeable sure, but that's mainly because I worked at it than having seen stuff. I've not really seen much and no one except you and your sister are willing to tell us much."

"Right," I said. I sat back, reminding myself that smart as Jared was, he was still a kid and everything around here was dangerous enough that it wasn't the smartest option getting him involved. "Full disclosure. The witches stabbed me with a cursed blade. It bit into my bone and started to corrode. I drink vampire blood now to slowly gain back the bone until it fixed. That will be a month, give or take."

"Hectic," he said, with far less feart than I had been going for.

"Yeah and the one who got me wasn't even a witch, just normal."

"This is you trying to scare me away isn't it?" he said after a moment.

"This is me trying to show you that what you want might get dangerous…not might," I amended, "will. I'm a little scare that you might suffer for any affiliation you have with me."

"I've thought about this," he said, "considered everything I've heard, even that you might go crazy with power lust and I'm willing to take the risk. I think it's worth adding that the possibility of power lust excites me too. Power is something reached through ingenuity and I'm all about that."

I shrugged. "You're your own person. You'll do what you like."

He smiled a little at that and I couldn't help but feel like I was manipulating him.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty Six

I paid attention as I entered. "Phasmatos Tribum: Somnus," I said and I pushed out, drawing threads towards everyone within sight. The spell worked well enough filled with the power that I had and every officer slumped forward on their desk.

My steps were a strut as I moved my way through the place and headed for the Sheriff's office. The door was closed and upon testing it out it was locked. I was focused as I said the spell to open doors. I didn't want to break the internal mechanisms as I had done before; this had to be cleaner in a respect.

A click and I pushed the door open. The office was filled with a large amount of paperwork and case folders, the organisational style making no sense to me. I ignored it, going instead for the drawers and searching through them for the rings. It took ten minutes before I found a drawer which didn't budge open.

I tried the spell to unlock the drawer but it didn't work. The spell met resistance, which meant there was some form of protection on the drawer. I took a large breath and closed my eyes, saying a spell that opened me up to the threads extending from the drawer. It was relatively frail, stretching out to a distant location but I didn't follow it. There was the chance that the person on the other side might track me and this time I wasn't prepared to block a Tracking spell.

"Phasmatos omnio ligor coldate sangorium," I said and I cut the thread. The drawer opened at my try and within sat what looked like a jewellery box. The thread running from the jewellery box was stronger than the one before, whatever binding agent they had used my this less thread but a thick rope.

Unravelling it would take some time and I suspected that doing so would set off some alarm system, though I couldn't be sure what that was or how it would work.

I prepared to take the chance. Even if they saw it was me doing all this I doubted they could do anything. There were four witches in town and only one of which would be willing to act against me but there was nothing in it for Andrew. I doubted they had the incentive he wanted and he didn't seem the sort who wanted money.

I didn't need to pull power in. It was already running through me, aching against my skin and just waiting for me to use it. The words slipped through my lips and the threads were cut, one by one they were cut down by a much stronger force until the last had been cut. I opened the box and retrieved a ring and made my way—

A muted thump reverberated around me as I smacked into the boundary. Something I was sure hadn't been here before. I frowned, running my hand over the surface of thin air, feeling as though my hand was sliding of the smoothest of glass.

My closest guess was that the spell on the box had been linked to a boundary. Maybe one of the multitude of threads had not gone to the power source for the spell on the box but to the boundary, making it so that if it were cut the boundary would come alive, to make this trap much stronger the anchor would be on the outside and I would be unable to break those threads. This would limit my choices, forcing me to brute force my way out of the place.

If I didn't have the power to overcome the spell, then I would be screwed.

Did I have the power? I could guess that I did. The only person who could have set up this system was Bree and I didn't know much about her save that she was friends with Stefan. There were three possibilities on her power source: herself, the elements and the ancestors.

If she used the former two power sources then I could brute force it. But it was complicated where the spirits were concerned, power levels weren't exactly something I could scale. There was another option I had though. I still had access to the power afforded to me by the Bennett Talisman but every time I tried to use the two powers in concert my body took a tremendous strain.

Even so, I trusted that I could do this in less than a minute, not enough damage that the power would eat me up.

I reached for the power of the talisman and said the spell, disabling the spell for five minutes and I walked out. Luckily there was no blood when I tested my nose.

The boundary put in place to guard the cell didn't stop me because of the ring. I managed to move smoothly through it and descended the stairs to the supernatural prison. There were only two people inside, both looking intensely bored.

Anna grinned. "Haven't seen you in a while," she said.

"Motus," I said with a look and her head snapped to the right. The other witch was on her feet, a look I couldn't quite read on her. "Hello."

She didn't answer. Instead she shifted. I was hit for the first time that she was relatively young, in her early twenties.

"I'm Micah. Bennett. But I'm guessing you knew that seeing as you were tasked to kill me."

She said nothing.

I took a breath, scratching my head. "I suddenly don't know why I'm here. I wanted to ask who sent you, but we already know it was a coven of witches. But no less there was the compulsion to come talk to you." I shrugged. "I'm confused. Why I came here or what I expected. Perhaps it was and apology," I said with a shrug but then I snorted. "But that isn't going to do me much good. What will is knowing more about you, about your group of witch hunters. So will you tell me something?"

"Why would I want to do that?" she said her tone hard.

"I don't know." I looked and I found a chair. I slid it over until I was sitting in front of her cell. "I told my sister some time ago that I had a list of acceptable behaviour. It's not cast in stone but I try to make it a point to stick to the principle behind it. One of the items on the list is no torture.

"It's selfish on my part because I don't like pain and inflicting it on someone else is something I don't think I'd have the stomach for. Right now, since you had tried to kill me, I'm aching to break that item. But I'm not. If I break just one of those then I'd be more liable to break another. So you're safe, in that respect. But that doesn't stop me from threatening you with a fate worse than death."

I saw the curiosity in her eyes.

"My cousin taught me a spell that works by building a dimension that's under the caster's control," I told her. "She uses it as a loophole to the Protection of Invitation but I have another matter in my. What if I used it like the Other Side? Made it so that it had a condition in place to collect the mental imprints of a dead witch? I could use your blood to form a strong bond and I could lock you in a state where you were perpetually alone, sort of like how vampires and werewolves suffer with the effects of the Other Side."

"You can't do that," she said and there was a certainty in her words.

I grinned. "Are you sure about that? Why do you think everyone is so afraid of me? Why do you think I was able to take you down when I was outnumbered? Answer: Because I'm a Bennett. A male Bennett. A massive loophole with untold potential. But most scarily I'm clairsentient. You don't want to underestimate what I can do."

"Let's say I believe you," she said. "Let's say I believe you can do what you said. Do you think I'll believe that you'd be willing to kill me when you can't torture?"

"That's because I don't quite fear death in the same way that I fear torture," I told her. "And some people do deserve to die. You're a mercenary. You and yours have killed before because of nothing more than money. I could kill you in good conscious."

"Could being the operative word," she said with a small grin.

"I've got Enzo to do my killing," I said and her grin slipped. It was my turn to smirk. "Yeah. This, that you're seeing now, is a forced calm. I'm angry. I'm pissed. Because I have nightmares of you trying to kill me. I can't sleep in my own home because every time I'm there I get panic attacks. So, I'm going to enact my plan. I'm going to focus my attention on this fate of yours. But I could instead let you stay in jail. Anna's still alive and she succeeded in killing my grandmother, so at least I can restrain myself enough not to have you killed.

"Question now, is, do you value your own sanity enough to tell me what I want to know?"

We were quiet for long moments and she shifted before dissolving into a pace. I stayed, watching her, hoping that I might be able to read her personality but it was a no go. All I could see was that she was scared. I didn't have enough to go on to see which buttons would get me the result I wanted.

Sometime through it all Anna woke up with a large breath.

"Say anything and I'm going to snap your neck again."

She scowled, but further than that she said nothing. I took out my phone and looked at the time. I had ten more minutes before my spell wore off and I would be forced to move. It wasn't that I didn't want to get caught, but I wanted to be in my own element when they came after me, my thoughts gathered and at the ready. Right now I was brimming with too much anger to not be expected to be angry when they would inevitably say they were keeping me in the dark for my own protection.

"I'm not going to tell you anything," she said.

I nodded and stood, saying nothing as I left them behind. Jeremy was waiting for me outside in the car. I took out my phone and dropped the outgoing call.

"That was useless," said Jeremy as I entered. He had a hard look on him as he took me in.

"It was therapeutic," I said.

"Threatening her is therapeutic?"

I shrugged. "It's got her feeling as scared as I'm feeling right now."

"That was an empty threat right?" Jeremy asked.

"I honestly can't know," I said. "The concept is pretty interesting and I wouldn't be willing to put her through it."

"And the thing about Enzo?"

"I think if I did ask him, Enzo might agree, but I'm not willing to do that. The man looks as though he wants fresh start…Damon obsession aside."

Jeremy let out a breath. "What now?" he said. "I still don't entirely get the point to all this."

"Right now, I'm just trying to piece people off. I'm hoping that pushing them over a certain point will force them to act. Also the small point that it sucks when you're not informed in stuff."

"You're being such a teenager right now."

"Says the guy that's younger than me by a few months."

"I'm not the one testing the limits of the authority," he said.

"They're authority by virtue of being older, not because they're smarter. That's what I'm against in this whole thing. Not to mention I really hate being treated like a kid. We should leave before they start waking up," I said. "I've given them two days, the Lockwoods must be done with bonding."

"You going to question him about being a wolf?"

I nodded. "We should pick up Jared on the way there. He told me he'd never really talked to a live werewolf before. It should be interesting to bounce ideas off of him."

Luckily Andrew wasn't at their apartment when we arrive, which made the visit a lot less awkward when I didn't have the much older boy glaring at me for being a bad influence—the thought flickered through my mind that if the concept of Karma was real, I might have the same feelings when my children made friends I knew would lead them to ill. I pushed this thought aside however because it would limit my thinking and that wasn't something I needed.

It was strange the change which reverberated through our town, the boundary on the Lockwood Estate had been my doing, buying goodwill in case I ever needed it, which, with the whole infiltration of the station, I would need soon. The spell was basic though it had it had tried to incorporate the things I'd seen floating around, creating a vacuum within the consideration that would allow certain people within the boundary. I'd also ran a spell over the ring so that they couldn't leave the house for more than a minute and a half, dissolving if it passed the ring.

The work which had gone into creating this, and having to work with my sister to create a quasi-cursed object, was perhaps the best and calming moments I'd had in a while. It had helped in smoothing over my relationship with my sister as of late but I couldn't help but get the feeling that it was pity on her part with almost getting killed. Something else I pushed away, the why of it didn't matter so much as the fact that I'd had fun.

"Not that this isn't fun," said Jared. We were sitting one of the few rooms with a TV and a sports game had been putting on—I wasn't paying much attention at this point too consumed by my thoughts. "But I've never really met a werewolf before." He looked at me. "You promised me a werewolf."

"So that's what this is about," said Tyler, shooting me and Jeremy a look I couldn't quite read. I rose a brow. "You're out of the Gilbert place. Which doesn't happened much, lately. So its suspicious."

"Is this entire town suspicious?" asked Jared.

"We're low bit," said Tyler. "It goes up in scale with how much you know."

"Where do I rank?" asked Jeremy.

"Classes A to D," said Tyler. "Everyone out of the know would be D. C is most people in the know but have a layer of separation from it all. Matt would be class C. B is where that layer is removed. That would be me and most others in the know including the council. A is for the heads, the Founders and most the people who have to deal with the large aspects. The sheriff, head doctor in the hospital, the principal and the more older vampires. Lastly, A+. This is conspiracy level stuff and reserved for a few. Yourself," he said, gesturing to Jeremy, "Micah and Stefan are the only holders right now, and I'm thinking Damon might be there but I don't really have an idea of the guy save the memories I was able to get back."

"I get why Micah would qualify," said Jared. "But I haven't seen him do anything of worth."

"Of worth, how?" asked Jeremy.

"Micah went to channel, but you haven't really done much, have you?"

"I've done a lot," said Jeremy. "But when we're compared to Micah it's true that it seems like most of us are doing nothing. Then again Micah's easily distractible."

"I'm not distractible," I said, taking slight offence.

"You decided you were going to make a move the first day you got this new power of yours and then in the week that followed you did nothing but slip and let me experiment."

"Sordid," said Jared.

He was ignored. "There's so much to do and only so much time to do it all," I said in my defence.

"Shouldn't what happening now be the most important?" asked Tyler.

"Try telling that to my brain," I told him. "I have idea that I want to do and I've got this petulance running through me that everything else is periphery to what I want to do. Kind of the reason I've been focusing on expansion more than defence. That would be rigid, limiting my thinking to only a certain avenue of magic."

"Nothing more despicable than that," said Jared. "Which is the reason I think we should return to the whole matter of the wolf—"

"Mason," I corrected.

"—I have questions I've been mentally rolling over that need answers."

"Answers you'll be getting," said Jeremy. "I hear an irregular heartbeats."

"Plural?"

"My uncle brought his friends…or pack. Few of them living outside of town in some encampment. Really into the beast nature of being a wolf," said Tyler.

"How many are there?" asked Jared. "A few months ago I wasn't sure they existed much less that there were so many of them."

"Not many," I answered. "Less when eventually Klaus arrives."

"What does the Original have to do with this?" asked Jeremy, and I could tell by his tone that he had tensed. I didn't answer, couldn't answer because my mind was already running a mile a minute.

"Tyler, awkward question, but the man or woman who killed you, did you kill them in turn?" I asked.

"No," he said. "Why?"

"Werewolf transformation first happens when someone kills for the first time. You're a vampire, true, but there isn't anything barring someone from being both a werewolf and a vampire. What happens if you kill someone?"

"You're thinking he becomes a hybrid," said Jeremy.

I nodded. "Magic and loopholes goes hand in hand and this a massive one. Sure I think there would be more to it. There reason Klaus could transform in the first place was because of the influx of power afforded to him by doppelganger blood."

"Wait, you know the ingredients needed for the vampire spell?" asked Jared but I ignored him.

Pretty much this had been needed with wolves turned into vampires after their transformation, they had needed Elena's blood after the fact. Except Hayley who had been working on a loophole but I disregarded her. In this situation, if Tyler were to kill someone, could the laws which already exist create another semi-Original hybrid?

"Whatever ideas you've got going, keep my sister out of it," said Jeremy.

Elena wasn't the only doppelganger I had to work with, not to mention if ever it came to it the situation would compel Elena to give me her blood. I could remember what happened to hybrids who didn't drink Elena's blood, they would slowly degrade until they died the true death.

I waved it off. "I'll put a pin in all this," I told him. "Look into it if ever there's time. Right now though there's something I want to work on, but I'll need money before I can make anything useable."

"What are you planning to make?" asked Jeremy with a knowing tone.

"Amongst other things," I said, and know I could hear the footsteps coming closer. "A way for werewolves to keep their wolf strength without having to transform every night of the full moon."

The footsteps stopped and I grinned. If this were a movie and the audience had been watching, what I'd done, especially consciously, would have been bad ass to a point.

* * *

AN: It occurred to me that I'd only updated twice. Rushed this, but I think it turned out well.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter Thirty Seven

"You can do that?" Mason Lockwood, uncle of Tyler and a man with breath-taking grey eyes. I noticed I was staring and shook my head, trying to gather my thoughts and regaining a measure of my edge.

"Is it possible, yes," I said, trying to keep my tone calm when I started to notice I was on edge. This was perhaps the weirdest feeling yet. I took a breath to centre myself, taking a quick rundown of any memory that might filter through and the reason for the rouge feelings became apparent.

The Facsimile had had a crush on Mason Lockwood and it seemed it was something I'd inherited when I'd subsumed it. Another shake of the head, my eyes closing as I gathered my thoughts, willing my mind to find a thread a stay though course, allowing myself no distractions.

"Can I do it? Not at present. Is it likely that I might be able to figure it out. Yes."

"Like you'd be likely to finish all of your projects," Jeremy muttered. "I don't think taking on something else is the best idea."

"I've got to agree with Jeremy," said Jared. "This is cool and from what I can figure it would mean at the end of it all we had a greater understanding of wolves, but it seems a little much with what we've already spoken about.

"You've told him?" asked Jeremy.

I absently nodded, looking between the two of them. They knew the most of what I was planning to do, even if they didn't know the full story and taking that into account the list was that much larger: Bringing Grams back to life, building an alternate dimension that might house my school, learning to draw power from blood and a whole host of other ideas that were niggling in my subconscious.

Even so, this seemed important. The school could wait because there already was a working system. It was true that there were witches out there who suffered for not having a coven and were open to being manipulated because of this, but they were few and far between. Werewolves on the other hand had it bad, they were forced through their curse during every full moon and me having the power to help them out while doing nothing was something that didn't sit too well.

Question was, would I be willing to put everything else aside for this project? Would I even be able to figure this thing out? I could remember the basics of it, the ingredients of the spell: some black stone, the spell cast on a night of the full moon and bound to a wolf who didn't need to shift—with the side effect of render the binding agent weak once every month to refuel the stones.

It would require a lot of work, a lot of study in that particular field and a knowledge of Latin enough that I might be able to create my own spells.

I let out a breath. "I feel like an ass, now," I said. "Dangling this in front of you then accepting that its infeasible at this point."

"But it can be done?" asked the woman. I remember her saying her name but I had been too distracted by the piercing grey eyes. It had started with a J. "A more knowledgeable witch might be able to do it?"

"Yes," I told her. "I don't like the prospect of giving a job to someone else, but Stefan knows a witch more knowledgeable in practice than I am and she might have heard something."

"Bree?" said Jeremy.

"Yeah. Her. The work she was able to put into the Boundary spell is amazing. It looks as though she has a talent for those."

Mason gave a shrug, eyes casting onto Jay. "Worth a try," he said. "This is what many of us want after all." There was something more that was said behind their meaningful gaze, a gazed that had me surging with minute feelings of jealousy.

Fuck hormones.

"Right, Mr Lockwood, since you're knowledgeable than Mayor Lockwood we have a few questions about the whole werewolf curse," I said. I looked at Jared and the boy was practically brimming with excitement.

I didn't have questions myself but Jared seemed to have catalogued a coherent stream in the time we had been talking. The questions ranged from basics to stuff I hadn't much time to think about, whether werewolves turned by seeing the full moon and did this extend to when the moon was full during the day. At Mason and Jules' no Jared went into a speculation that the sun might have a nullifying effect on the werewolf transform.

It was adorable to watch in a way, but to the other Jared's behaviour quickly grew boring. Jeremy and Tyler practised their hallucinatory ability, pushing images into the other's mind while the other would note the inconsistencies in their work. Jules left a half hour into Jared's questioning and I could see that Mason was getting slightly irritated by it all but the guy was too nice to put an abrupt stop to it all.

The sun was starting its descent by the time Jared was sated, a few notes compiled and running theories jotted down, by this time Mason had followed in Jules' wake while I was listening absently to the boy's mutterings while trying to lower the natural defences I had and give Jeremy entry into my mind. I could feel it, the subtle force trying to intrude on my thoughts but it wasn't strong enough that it could pass through and the concept of lowering a barrier I hadn't even known existed was something that went over my head.

"Lag," muttered Jeremy. "When you made the breeze I felt if first then the grass moved."

Tyler's face scrunched in concentration, eyes closed and his breathing deep. It was boring to watch on the outside but it must have been exciting on the other side.

Even with this Jeremy still tried getting into my mind. Perhaps there were more perks in being a vampire than being a witch if it meant an awesome multitasking ability.

Getting a little bored I decided to practice with Lucy's spell. I built a boundary in the room we were in and experimented with the different functionalities I could put in, the rules I could bend. It was nothing too overt, small stuff in the greater scheme of what could be completed. I changed how the room interacted with sound. It took a small amount of power and a strong thought about what I wanted before it took effect: there room became absolutely silent, nothing in the form of ambient sound save that when one of us spoke it was almost like a shout.

Next was how light interacted with everything, giving the room a warm tinge to it before I went to the opposite end and made things colder, made the blues deeper and the yellows dulled to the point that they could no longer be considered so. I swapped it out then turned the entire room monochrome.

"You're bleeding," said Jeremy.

I touched my nose and my pulled the hand back, against the monochrome the blood was almost black; letting out a breath I cut the connection to the spell and everything returned to normal.

"You're doing too much on your own," Jared noted, his expression of worry. "Having power constantly rushing through you wears on the body. It's the reason for a coven in the first place. That and more people can share more power between them."

I nodded. I knew what he was doing even with most of his statement being truth. He was telling me that I needed to get a move on in telling Bonnie and inducting him into the coven. Not even a subtle manipulation but then I didn't take Jared for the manipulating type.

"I think I'll lay off casting any spells for today," I said as I stood, moving to the bathroom to wash off the blood. I hadn't missed the look Tyler had shot towards me, the rigid stance and the feeling that I was being watched by a predator.

Not gone five minutes but when I had returned everyone looked tense.

"There's been a vampire attack," said Jeremy.

**888**

"What did you do?" there was anger in the question because more than anything I felt turmoil, a rolling of emotions that compelled me to act.

Enzo for his part was glaring, looking at me with the cold look that I had a distinct impression came from one without humanity.

"You killed my best friend's uncle and a member of the Founder's Council. Do you have any idea how much of a mess this is all is?"

"Did you know?" The question and the tone of it sent chills running down my spine. "Did you know that the same family you're all buddy-buddy with is the same family that's been putting me under the knife for the most recent fifteen years of my life," said Enzo and I was briefly hit by the image, strapped to a table, a knife running over my skin and slicing through; even the pain was real, nothing at first at the initial incision but then a deep throb would come from the wound.

The image finished and I was on the ground, my legs having given out and my throat sore. Enzo stood over me and I could see the cogs moving in his head, realising what he'd done. Another image and again I was strapped to a table, contraptions around me before I felt a surge of electricity running through me, the back of my throat as dry as sand and a deep fatigue in every one of my muscles.

A man materialised in front of me, tall and slightly muscular, hair an almost black brown and a genial expression on him even as he placed an electrode over my skin, letting the current run through me, burning me from the inside.

A voice and it said, "Grayson."

"What are you doing here, John," said Grayson, irritation in his tone.

"Got in another scrap and I almost didn't make it. Ran out of vampire blood."

Grayson shook his head. "You know that you're playing a dangerous game, don't you? If you get killed with that stuff in your system."

"I can handle myself," said John, tone tight nipped, "and if things turn out for the worse I still have my ring."

"Stop," I said and I pushed past the image, trying to see Enzo. The image started to shake and flicker, breaking apart and resolving to the jail cell before I was back in that table, strapped and Grayson and John Gilbert talking as though they didn't have me as a victim of their torture.

I pushed back harder and when I saw Enzo I directed my anger towards him, shooting bursts and riding on the momentum. The image faded and I was left panting on the ground, my composure lost.

"Not even five minutes," said Enzo. "I had to go through that for fifteen years with him, taking out various organs, seeing how fast I healed and letting me desiccate a few times. All this time I've been living with their spawn right under my nose and you knew."

"I didn't know," I said, my voice coming out raw, phantom pain still radiating through me.

"I'm not sorry about what I did," he said. "Not sorry that I killed him. Because he knew about the stuff that was happening to me and he let it happen, and if I could do it again, I would."

I let out a sigh, slowly getting to my feet and trying to work around this dilemma. The truth of it was something that was not beyond credibility, there was no reason for Enzo to lie nor to pick the Gilberts in particular. The man had spent months with them and from my knowledge there was nothing that would have created a divide between them.

This information would though. It would draw a large divide between him and the Gilberts, making them aware of a truth they hadn't known about their father, and knowing what I knew about Enzo, he would love to tell them. Destroying the image that Grayson Gilbert had been a good man.

Did I stop it? Could I stop it? Did I even want to stop it?

How was I going to fix this?

"I'll work on getting you out of here," I said, running a hand through my hair. "It will mean enemies but extenuating circumstances have to be taken into account."

Enzo looked slightly surprised. He crossed his arms and said nothing.

"Changing the subject," I said. "I thought you were hunting Damon."

"He's cloaked," said Enzo. "Managed to get a whiff of him a few days ago and I followed it. He was in some bar with a boundary spell against everyone but himself, being all glib about it."

"So you came back for your own witch?"

"You said you would help me if I ever asked for it," he said.

"And I would," I told him. "I just have to figure out how I might be of help." I let out another sigh, trying to think through avenues that might make this work but finding nothing. The Council would not agree in releasing Enzo whether it was the fact that he'd committed a crime or because it was one of their own who had been killed and anything I said would fall on deaf ears.

The only reason they might let Enzo out is if he were useful and I already had avenues of making that work. Dangerous avenues but avenues nonetheless. Releasing vampires from the Tomb, they would go on a frenzy and all the help available would be needed. But that idea might mean casualties.

It occurred to me that I could just break him out but the trouble that would get me in would be counterproductive and it was only a matter of time before I was arrested too for breaking crimes.

"This won't be fast," I told him. "Right now nothing is coming to mind but in a few days or a month some knowledge might come to mind, an idea that could get you out."

"Do want you want," said Enzo and then he was laying on his cot. I could sense that he didn't entirely trust my words.

I disabled the spell to keep the silence as I left, moving to the offices and ignoring the glares shot my way as I went into the section with the morgue. My escapade with speaking to the still functional witch had been recorded by security camera and it was the fact that there was _this _that no one had mentioned it yet.

"What did he say?" Jeremy asked as I entered, an expression of anger masking the hurt I could see in his eyes.

"After," I said. I looked at Bonnie, Emily's grimoire in her hands and it was shut. That was a good sign, it meant she'd understood the spell. "What does it say?"

"Ring will bring him back if he's killed by a supernatural, even indirectly," she said. "It works by turning the human into enough of a supernatural creature that they enter the Other Side but not enough that they can stay. Emily notes that the Other Side was created as a measure to stop supernatural creatures from moving _on _so the path of least resistance is for the human to move back into their body."

"Duration?"

"Anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours," she said.

"But he'll be coming back?"

Bonnie nodded. I had something to work with now. I did my best to hold back the feelings of relief that Enzo would be out.

We waited.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter Thirty Eight

"You're keeping something from me," said Jeremy. I gave him a look, my attention returning. "You're about to deny it," he said. "Don't. You're keeping something from me. What is it?"

"Something I'm still working out," I said, pretty much at a loss. I'd framed the idea but it hadn't become a plan. There was a lot that needed to be considered, reactions that needed to be factored and how I would play this with how little I knew.

"See, when I hear that, I get worried, particularly since my uncle just happened to be attacked by Enzo," said Jeremy, a slight bit to his tone. "Tell me what you're thinking."

I took a breath, running over possibilities and finding none where my plan would work if Jeremy knew about it. Everything hinged on—

"You're going to help him aren't you?" Jeremy said, his voice a hiss. He looked around, there were a few people around that weren't so much listening but the possibility that a man was about to return to life was exciting. I would have been thinking the same thing if I weren't trying to _think. _

"I can't believe you," he said. He took my shoulder and before I could react there was a rush of wind and I was outside. Jeremy was looking at me with a glare. "You're thinking about getting him out scot free for killing my uncle, Micah. Think about that. He _killed_ my uncle."

"Jeremy. I need to think," I said tight-nipped. "Can you trust that I'm working with a goal in mind."

"I know you're working towards a goal," said Jeremy. "I know you well enough to know that's how you work. I've also already guessed the goal in this case and I don't like it. Don't understand it…unless." He looked at me, expression thoughtful before he said, "You like him, don't you?"

"What?"

"You have a crush on him or something," he said.

"I don't," I said. "I'm clairsentient, the least I could do is pick a target I have a change of moving forward with for a crush. And if you haven't noticed, I'm too busy everything to have time to develop a crush. Between protecting my own life and that of your sister I don't have much of time to begin with."

"Don't do that," he said. "Don't manipulate me. Redirecting my attention."

"I'm stating facts," I said. A spell muttered and we were enclosed in a decagram Boundary. "Elena is a beacon, Jeremy. Pretty soon she'll have every witch, vampire or wolf after to tap into that power. You'll be strong, yes, but your power will come with age. Mine will come with study but even that isn't fool proof, so I'm working on other avenues, surrounding us with powerful people that will have something invested in us being alive. I'm telling you the truth. I don't have a crush on Enzo."

"The thing with the wolves," he started.

"Was showing them I would be open to finding a solution to their plight," I said.

"Stop it, Micah! Damn it. Damn you. Do you know how hard it is to be your friend? Everything you say I have to consider twice, searching through for manipulations or any deceits. But even then I can't trust that you don't know that I'm doing it and working with that knowledge in mind, double bluffing me. Then I think I'm starting to figure you out and you show me _this_. You're playing games with all of our lives and what makes it worse you're unapologetic about it." Jeremy took a breath, running a hand at his brow. "And there it is again," he said. "I'm worried about redirection. I'm looking for it and you tell me something that takes me away from my original concern. You're trying to save the man who killed my uncle."

"Give me some time to think," I said, pleading.

"And I need you to trust me," he said. "Tell me what's going on."

"This will break you, Jeremy," I said.

"I need to know."

I took a breath. Every part of me which had formed a plan was screaming against me telling Jeremy. The outline had now formed into something which might work, already I was drawing conversation threads and approaches if something in particular was said. But I told all of that to screw it and focused on the fact that my best friend was at a point where he couldn't trust me.

"Your dad was part of the organisation that tortured Enzo," I said.

"My dad was torturing Enzo?" He shook his head when I said nothing. "That's not—that's not my dad. He wouldn't do that."

"It's hard to believe, but it's probably true."

"So you don't know for sure," said Jeremy. "This isn't magical knowledge so there's a chance that your ability doesn't cover it. Enzo could be lying, trying to get to this situation where you would be working to get him out of jail."

"I'm pretty decent with reading people," I told her. "He wasn't working me."

"But you can't be sure," he said.

"We can," I told him. "You uncle will know the answers. The problem now is if he'll tell the truth."

"I'll compel him," said Jeremy and he was already moving.

"Ossox." Jeremy's leg broke and he screamed.

"Fuck you," he said, a second passed and a sickly crack echoed before Jeremy's leg returned into position. He was immediately on his feet.

"Enzo has to get out of this alive," I said. "He's the most powerful vampire we have in town right now. Whatever you're going to do make sure it's with that part in mind. There's a greater good and with everything we do it shouldn't be forgotten. This is my price. Always considering plan upon plan and you, wanting to know it all are a part of that."

"Fine," said Jeremy. "You want Enzo out of prison then I'm going to do it."

He rushed off, moving faster than my eyes could follow. I looked around and let out a sigh. I'd probably ruined everything by telling Jeremy the truth. It was probably selfish too especially with how much it would affect him and his sister. I couldn't help the part of me which told me that the original plan had been less so. At the end of it all, they would have been saner but ignorant about the man their father had been.

I ran a hand over my hair and started making my way into the sheriff department. It would be hell trying to deal the fallout to everything but it had to be done. I hadn't made it three steps before someone appeared in front of me; tall, dark and scary.

Damon grinned.

I had the time to mutter, "Crap," before something plunged into my neck.

888

The smell was overwhelming. I opened my eyes only to hiss as smoke bashed into them, blinking out the tears as I tried to get my feet. The room tilted when I tried to find my them and I shuffled back trying to get my balance before the room pitched harder and I fell over.

I muttered an oath under my breath, my words coming out slurred and my tongue feeling thick in my mouth. I had another go at trying to get at my feet but still the room turned around, shifted to keep me off balance. A third try and still the same effect with nothing working.

Time to change approaches. I sat down and looked around, noticing that the smoke moved strangely, almost a constrained circle around me. I looked at the ground and at the parts I could see lines drawn around me in what looked like blood, bits of herbs stuck on it; too complicated to just be a circle.

"Phesmatos," I said and focused. The world pitched harder, everything shaking, bits of darkness edged my vision and they drew closer with each second, threatening to engulf me.

I let out a hiss before it turned into a groan. My head kept pounding, harder and harder. The entire thing was throwing off my focus. I had to pull through though. I wasn't sure what Damon was planning but I had to get out of here.

"Phasmatos: Fumos Extas."

It felt like being hit by a hammer. A scream passed through my lips at the force of the blow. I felt as the blood dropped from my nose, my ears being clogged by a viscous liquid and pressure against the corners of my eyes.

All that pain and it still hadn't worked. If anything the line of smoke seemed to move faster and in a tighter circle. The darkness clogged more of my vision, the room becoming darker but not knocking me unconscious.

Footsteps reverberated through the room. A click clack of heals against cement. I turned and it was too fast. The room titled and I lurched forward, my head slamming against the floor as I fell.

"Herbs to dampen your magic," said the voice of a woman. "Probably should have warned you against that."

"Who are you?" I asked. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Favour for an old friend," she said. She bent and I could see her face; dark skinned and a long and angular face framed by loud, bushy hair. It was horribly that on an aesthetic level I could call her beautiful, even though she had been bound in a circle and my magic nullified.

"Not that he needed to say much to get me to join," she said. "I heard you gifted with clear knowledge. You have no idea how much I would have paid to rifle through your head."

"Please don't," I said, my voice filled with equal parts panic and trepidation. "Please just let me go. You'll avoid trouble if you do."

"Cloaking spell," she said with an air of disregard. "I had to tap into a lot stored power to make it happen, Nature knows how tenacious your kind can be, but it will work until I'm done with you."

I felt panic strike me but my body didn't move with that panic. I was stuck in place not by magic but the pounding of my head. Every time I tried the room tilted and an invisible hammer struck. My stomach twisted and clenched, and everything threatened to surge up and shoot out. I stopped trying and lay back, trying to think but my mind moving too slow to make a difference.

The woman stood and flicked a hand, banishing the smoke. It was a small reprieve because though my pounding head lessened, it wasn't enough that I could perform a spell. She started another spell and the lines started burning, there was no left but a pungent aroma permeated from them, the plant-lined lines started to turn black.

Power coiled around me before I felt the plant woven lines erupt from the ground and wrap around me, keeping me in place. My heart beat a few notches faster and the lines reacted to this, binding my tighter and tighter until I could barely breathe. I tried fighting but this was the absolute worst thing I could do because and particular line wrapped around my throat and started to squeeze, stopping me from breathing.

"Don't kill him," said a voice I belatedly realised belonged to Damon. "I made promises."

The only sign that the woman had heard was that the sole tendril around my neck loosened, though the others didn't.

_Focus, _I told myself. _I'm a witch. I'm powerful. I can figure this out. Disrupt it. _

I focused, pushing pas the headache and searching for the power that should have been at my back and call. It was there, aching against my skin and compelling me to use it. I focused on the effect, wanting to disrupt this particular spell and found my go-to spell.

"Phasmatos Tribum," I started but a tendril quickly snapped over my mouth, reaching inside and gagging me. I wretched, barely holding back the urge to vomit. The tendril served its function, though, and stopped me from completing my spell.

Her spell reached a climax, words I hadn't heard and could barely remember. But the effect was something I could feel; a hand, cold and clammy plunged into my hand and, as though it were reading through a book, started rifling through. The same as the woman I could see the memories moving swiftly back; the years spent in my own my watching the facsimile and my family, the time I'd first cast a spell when I had been five and before that when I had been in a bed, unable to move and yet thought as an adult did.

They moved back further, flashes of time spent in front of either a TV or a laptop, watching familiar characters on a series named _The Vampire Diaries. _The rifling paused for a moment before it pushed, taking in the memories with almost curious air to it; through the season she moved until she hit the darkness I couldn't remember. But she didn't stop, she must have pushed more power into the spell because I felt the impact when she fought the darkness.

A scream ripped through me as a head splitting force moved through my mind, trying to breakdown a preform block. Cracks started forming and she pushed more power, the cracks propelled forward by some momentum until the block had disappeared. The memories started flicking through, season three, two and finally one but still she kept digging back, searching for something I couldn't tell.

More memories, maybe, trying to understand why I was here. Honestly speaking I was also curious but the pain meant I didn't care if that curiosity was appeased. I tried to fight back but the concept of fighting a mental intrusion was something I couldn't do.

She kept on rifling but whatever she was looking for she couldn't find and all at once she pulled back.

I was back in the room, with the woman and Damon standing over me, the former of whom was looking at me with a look of uncertainty, confusion and wonderment.

"Did you get it?" asked Damon. The woman didn't answer. "Bree?"

Bree grinned as she looked at Damon, then she looked back at me. "What are you, kid?" she asked, her voice soft. "What's Nature planning bringing you here?"

I couldn't speak, my breaths coming out hard, tears filling my eyes and the pounding back. I wanted nothing more to kill her or show her the same torture she had shown me, but that would have required me to concentrate and right now that was something I couldn't do.

"Focus," Damon hissed. "Katherine. Does he know where she is?"

Bree gave a soft chuckle. "He doesn't know where anything is," she said. "But he gave me a map. He knows how certain events would play under certain conditions, he pretty good with pattern recognition and great enough with reading people that he can try and predict things."

"How does that help us?" Damon asked.

"Katherine is close," she said. "Right now she's working towards getting herself freedom." Bree took a second, her eyes closed and a look of disconcertion flickering on her features before she continued. "Her plan requires a doppelganger."

"I know this," said Damon, an annoyed bite to his tone. "Stefan told me."

"But something I'm sure he wouldn't have told you is roughly how things will play out," said Bree. "If one of a few conditions are met, then Katherine is all the more closer to coming to Mystic Falls and if we want to find at, that would be our best vantage point to see her coming."

"These conditions being?" said Damon.

"A man by the name of John Gilbert returns to Mystic Falls, there's a sudden influx of werewolves or Elena's biological mother makes an appearance."

At the words the relatively new memories started filling in. I felt a whimper pass through me because my mind was already starting to work on automatic, considering everything and how I might best leverage the information to get ahead. Something clicked.

"He kills you," I said and I groaned at the volume of my own voice.

"I know, hun," said Bree and then her hand jerked. Damon's head followed the motion before he slumped, unconscious. "I don't envy you one bit, kid," she said. "Knowing what you know. But I'm going to set up countermeasures to ensure that doesn't happen to me."

"You know Damon," I said. "You've seen what he can do. You won't survive even with countermeasures."

"Linking spell," she said. "I'll link my life to his, in the permanent sense. He kills me and he dies."

"I can make sure that he doesn't," I said unable to hold the words back. "I can tell him that I have a way of getting him from the Other Side."

Bree smirked. "I was reading your thoughts while watching your memories," she said. "I know you far better than anyone does. I know about this act you've been trying to put up. What did Anna say you were doing, propping yourself up? Trying to cast a large shadow to intimidate? That won't work on me.

"If you wanted to break him out of the Other Side you would need to go into bed with Silas, something I doubt will happen seeing as he killed your dad. Not to mention the whole thing where you would be drawing lines in the sand, making your oldest ancestor an enemy. You want power. You haven't admitted it to yourself yet but you want to rule it all. Drawing lines isn't something you're liable to doing. If you were, you would have ensured Anna's death the first opportunity you had. We both know Enzo would have."

I swallowed, unsure what to say. Was this what Jeremy was talking about, the constant need to watch for manipulation on my part? Was this how I sounded to them all? More worryingly, were the words she spoke true?

I had made certain that no one knew that Damon was responsible for turning many in the Founder's Council. I had rationalised that letting Anna deal with imprisonment was a way to ensure that she confessed to the crime, but the truth of it was I could have told them it was her and I would have been believed. But I had kept her alive even though she had killed my grandmother.

Had I been trying to manipulate her? Showing her that I could show mercy, that if she played nice then I could do the same? I couldn't stop myself from seeing the parallels with what I'd done with the witch-hunter. Had I subconsciously guessed that I would need a display of mercy and kept her alive?

My thoughts were a loop, because in the situation Jeremy's words rang loudly through my head. I had a way of manipulating people and being unapologetic about it. Now the same thing was turned towards me and I was feeling a sense of dissonance.

I needed to get out of my trap. She wanted to think she knew me then I could play to that. I was planning to live a very long time therefore I could play the long game.

How to play this? The answer popped up and I acted.

I grit my teeth together and scowled. Bree's smirk grew wider.

"Here's a deal, kid," she said. "Three months and we don't try to kill each other. Directly or indirectly. We have the same knowledge. You're more used to working it than I am but I've got more experience on the witch side of things. If we fought things would no doubt be bad. We're working towards the same ends right now. Damon wants Katherine to pay for stringing him along. You want a control of the power that comes with doppelgangers while protecting Elena and Stefan when _they _start to make their move. We can work together on that front."

"You want to channel the others," I said. Bree gave me a nod. "I don't have much a choice but to agreed."

"That would be the smart thing to do. Smarter still would be not trying to take me out in the future, because trust that I will be on my guard."

I nodded. "You have a deal."

"Smart move," she said. "Now let me deal with him before he wakes up."

"You're still going to help him?" She nodded. "Why?" I couldn't help but ask.

"It says something that you don't know the answer to that," she said. "I love him," she told me. With that in my her actions were starting to make sense. "I'm about to break you a little, but I think it's for your own good. You're something of a sociopath. You've been removed from humanity for so long that you broke. Your…facsimile understood emotions well enough but you. You're riding on his experiences. You don't care about your family because you really love them. It's more that you know how people act towards family and friends and you're just emulating it."

I tried not think too hard on what she was saying. "How does that help me?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "Jeremy was right. You have a blind spot when it comes to your own actions. Maybe knowing a little more about yourself will help in that."

"I'm sort of compelled to draw similarities between you and a cult leader. I remember reading somewhere that they first breakdown people before rebuilding them in the image they want."

"I remember you reading that as well," she said and she grinned. "How I will this would always remain in my short term memory. Easy to recall. But this much information is going to be lost fast. I'm going to break the spells that Cloak you. I think you'll wake up in thirty minutes with your head better. Enough time for you to call for help."

Before I could say anything she said _Somnus, _her hand moving to draw a line between me and her. I felt the connection form and just as quickly everything switched off. Darkness engulfed me.

* * *

AN: Last chapter for the month should be up either tomorrow or the day after.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter Thirty Nine

When I woke up, my headache having subsided, the first thing I did was let out a Tracking spell. Bonnie was the easiest to find, her connection me afforded that much. The image was disheartening, a hospital. I swallowed as I felt a pit of unease settle in my stomach, nonetheless I pushed more power into the image, zooming in.

Bonnie lay on a hospital bed. She didn't look sick or anything of the like, except that she was asleep, a drip needled into her arm and another tube sticking into her nose. I couldn't be sure what had happened, especially without context. It was possible that this had been a move by Damon, making sure that he couldn't be tracked by Bonnie through a spell, but would that really be necessary with him having his own witch?

Damon was not the reason for this and I felt a pang of panic because figuring out needed me to reach into the new memories and with the mass of information at hand I felt a little overwhelmed. Elena was adopted, her mother was dangerous and her father, John Gilbert, was the worst of person, he flip-flopped on his ideals. He would be hard to predict but I at least knew one thing. He loved his family.

I took a breath and cut the power from the connection, choosing the second strongest. Jeremy. I said the spell and the thread was filled with power. I ran alongside it until I was hit by an image. Jeremy was unconscious, his neck at an odd angle and bindings keeping him to a chair, no doubt Vervain.

The pit in my stomach got worse. I found my father and I was a little happy to note that at least _he _was still conscious. He was running through the forest, looking behind him at times before something slammed into him. He rolled with the hit and was able to throw the woman off, slamming her into a tree with enough force that the bark broke.

The woman was immediately on her feet and rushing forward. She swiped an arm but dad stepped back, grabbing the offending arm and breaking it. The woman ignored the pain and gave my dad a backhanded slap that sent him off his feet. He landed with a roll and was running again. The woman chasing after him and keeping us with ease.

She was most certainly older and in a clear-out brawl, my father would lose. He needed help and I had something of an idea on what I could do. I took a breath and focused on a variant of the spell I had used at the Lockwood Property. There I had enchanted the rings that would burn when taken out of the house for a certain amount of time, adding the time variant to the spell had been a complexity, but what I was doing right now was much simpler.

Another breath and I added more power into the thread which extended towards my father. I set the function I wanted, that whenever a vampire touched him the effects might be similar to touching Vervain and that the effect would stretch over the entirety of his skin—I couldn't help but note the similarity between what I was doing and the protection Harry's mother had on him in the first book.

"I'm thinking way too much about fiction with everything that's going on," I muttered to myself, cutting short the thread of thought that remembered Bree's words to me. I needed to focus on protecting my father.

I said the spell, using the thread that extended to my father to direct where the spell would be placed. It wasn't too long a spell, but I hadn't used it so much that I could achieve an effect with one iteration. Seven in total before the spell was done and I was using the thread to look into my father's location.

My spell must have done something to impede my father because he was on the ground, the woman over him and her hand trying to reach into his chest. My father did his best to hold the hand back but the woman was certainly stronger. The spell to effect and the woman hissed, throwing herself off my father. The man had a confused look on him before he just rolled with it. He rushed forward and grabbed the woman, she flinched and tried to get the hand off but my father took on the offensive.

Okay. I was limiting myself with working like this. There was a lot I didn't understand. A lot I needed to figure out and searching for a phone it was seemed like a derelict house wasn't going to help me much. But I had magic and I was creative enough that already options were making themselves known.

I looked around and found something jagged enough that it would be able to cut through skin. My eyes closed and teeth grit in expectation of the pain, I cut my hand, letting blood well up before I dipped my right hand in and drew a straight line. There was no surety that what I was doing would work but it was worth a try. Blood held power and the line was symbolic to a point. I pulled on the entire mess of threads stretching from me and my father and bound it to the line of blood.

The spell held, which meant I could pull my attention away without having to start the spell from scratch every time I needed to take a look at him.

I drew a set of more lines and connected each to someone who's survival I was most interested in. Bonnie, Jeremy and Elena. Then I turned to the people that would be most useful. Enzo, Jared and his brother, Lucy and Stefan.

Stefan was easy enough to find because he was with Elena. The two were in the Salvatore Boarding house. Stefan talking to Elena while she was pacing, directing angry words at him before Stefan shook his head and said something. He was protecting her, which was good if this attack had something to do with Katherine.

Enzo was in his cloaked, a part of the spell on the prison, or at least I guessed. I tried to push past it but the image was blank. I couldn't even get an image of the town with the Tracking spell. Good and bad. It was the former because it meant the prisoners were more fortified than I had thought and it was the latter because if I figured out a way to get him out, it would be harder since I couldn't get the thread to stick to him.

Jared was also cloaked, but unlike Enzo he was a witch and he could feel it when the thread tried to form. He was quick and before I could do anything there was a thread running parallel my own and finding me. Jared arrived with such a force that, for a moment, I could see exactly the angle he was looking at me from. My head swivelled in the direction, looking to my right and to the roof on pure instinct.

The thread didn't abate. Instead whatever was cloaking him disrupted and I got an image of his apartment, or at least his room. He was rushing around, looking for something. Jared found a book and started writing down. He said words I couldn't hear the another thread, this one much thicker, connected to me; a piece of paper and pencil appeared and on it were the words for a spell.

_What's going on? _I asked and I said the spell, drawing a line between the both of us and filling it with power. The moment the thread connected with Jared the paper disappeared and I saw through my Tracking spell that it had appeared in front of Jared.

I dipped at the blood in my hand and drew out another line, anchoring the spell I had running with Jared onto it.

I took the moment he was jotting down on another piece of paper to look through the connection. Bonnie hadn't moved; Jeremy hadn't moved; my dad was resting, his hand bloodied and an expression of forlorn on him; Stefan and Elena were still at the house.

Why hadn't I found Lucy, yet? The thought filtered through. She was the most powerful witch we had on our side and yet she hadn't been my go-to witch. It took a second before the memories hit me. Lucy had been saved by Katherine and there was the risk that she was compromised. There was a lot that was suspicious with the new information at hand. She knew Katherine and would have obviously noted her resemblance to her saviour, and yet she had said nothing.

Had this been some ploy on Katherine's part?

I shook my head. It couldn't be. Lucy had rebelled in the end. She had kept the letter of the law but because Katherine hadn't told her the entire truth about the favour she had been pissed enough to take her down. She was to be trusted.

I tried to find her but she was cloaked. I hoped, just like Jared, she would feel the thread and follow it back but then remembered that Jared and Lucy's cloaking methods were different. Lucy's go-to was creating an alternate dimension that blocked out all connections. Jared on the other hand had access to a brother who was good with connections, so sensitive that he could feel connections directed his way. He would have taught that to Jared and the boy would have incorporated it into his Cloaking spell.

There was little hope that she would feel it and without the spell having formed and effect I couldn't anchor it. I made the mental note to keep prodding her, hopefully at some point she wouldn't busy and she would feel it if I tried to make a connection.

Jared's note appeared. _Jeremy freaked out. You were gone and he was working on knowledge that his uncle was a vampire hunter. Tried to drain his blind but the man had countermeasures. He had some magic device that took down every vampire and wolf in a five block radius. Things went for worse from there. It was like there was some sort of call to action. Stefan gets attacked by a woman and just barely takes her out. He grabs Elena and runs to the Salvatore place—the owner of the house isn't likely to be found soon, safest place there is—and then your sister disappeared. We tried to find her but she's cloaked. _

I stopped at that. Surprised that I hadn't felt the cloaking spell. But then there was a loophole in place.

_People are keeping as safe as they can. Hiding behind boundary spells—my brother has me doing the same. There isn't much order. Tyler says they aren't quite sure which way the attack is coming from. _

I turned the paper over and wrote, _Bonnie in hospital. _I checked the room number and wrote it on the piece of paper. _Get her out and tell her about our arrangement. Tell her to use herself to connect you to the greater scope of our power. I've protected dad but it won't do much against someone with a pain tolerance. First that then check prisons. Could be an attempt to free witch or Anna. _

I sent the paper over. Another returned a moment later. _What about you? _

_Safest place to be right now. Far from it all. Don't get yourself killed. Give me papers. I'm going to try and work on other avenues. _

It took a small amount of time before an exam pad appeared. I was starting to love that kid. I started forming a plan, but then a thought interrupted me and it was too important not to follow it.

_Can this spell send over a phone? _

Jared replied but it was a little longer. _Not on my own. I would need to channel something powerful. _

_Send me phone at first opportunity. _

Next part required moving into action. I didn't yet have a clear image of what was going on but working with new information I could make a guess that Katherine was making her move, Elijah wasn't here yet which meant there was still the chance that Klaus hadn't heard anything about a still living doppelganger. Working on the hypothesis that Katherine was the one making the moves I needed to keep an eye on all her allies. Mason, I didn't have a thread connecting me to him but I could use Tyler.

I sorted through my own threads until I found his own. It was a frayed thread, not strong enough that it might be able to sustain a spell being sent through it but filled with enough power I would able to run along it and track him. I filled the thread with power and ran along it. The Lockwood Estate appeared and pushing more power into the spell zoomed the image in to reveal the living room; Mason, Mr Lockwood and Jules were on their knees, all of the with an intense look of pain. A woman stood in front of them, a hand extended while she absently looked at another woman.

Tyler was on the floor and though I couldn't hear it, I could see he was in a lot of pain. He was on his back, his arm twisted at an angle, his eyes glowing gold and his fangs extended. Elena stood over him with a cold look in her eyes. I shook my head of the thought. It was just that the resemblance was so uncanny that, even expecting her, my mind jumped on her being Elena.

She was saying something and I hated that I couldn't do anything.

I took a breath and run through every available action. The first was getting my father thinking clearly. Which meant he needn't be worried about me or my sister. I wrote him a note and sent it through with Jared's spell. I watched as he read it over, looked momentarily confused before he took off in a dead run.

Next Stefan and Elena. _Katherine at Lockwood place with a witch, _I wrote. _Tyler's activated. Think may be hybrid. Not sure how Katherine knew he might be able to turn if he killed. May have had Mason plant listening devices around Lockwood Estate. Any rate suspect she'll use that to bring Elena closer. Are you safer there? Communicate using text. Just write message in big font. Watching through Tracking Spell. _

I sent the message then reached for that thread. Elena and Stefan were together, so when the message appeared in front of Elena, Stefan was already by her side reading it. I had meant the message for him since he was more powerful of the two of them but I had a stronger line to Elena than to him.

My wording must have spoken to this because he pulled out his phone and started writing. _Place blessed with protections like graveyard along with Protection of Invitation. No one will be able to get in, witch, wolf or vampire. Where are you? _

_Damon took me, _I replied. _He had Bree steal my knowledge. Call her. Tell her things are already moving forward. I'm hoping they're close enough that they might be able to help matters. Why aren't humans helping? _

_Station's been hit, _Stefan wrote. _Witch hunters are trying to free Anna and one of their own. We've been tricked. Entire attack on you was meant to get Lucy away. Got a hold of her but she's tied up. Coven she was picking a fight with are retaliating. _

I let out a sigh at heavy missed so much, running a hand through my hair and trying to think of a way I might aide in some way. I was getting people together but there was little chance that we could win with the odds so heavily against us. Absently I reached for Jeremy's line and found that he was awake, looking slightly in pain and trying to pull his wrists from his bindings. The pain tolerance exercises were working because the bindings were slowly starting to come apart.

Hoping it would work I said, _"Fractos," _and ran the spell through the thread extending between me and him. The ropes tore and the chair he sat on broke apart, having the effect of depositing him harshly on the ground. I grinned to myself, liking how much of an effect all my prior learnings were having on me right now.

_Go to your place. Need grimoire to look through spells. _I sent the message and he stopped, looking at it before rushing at the door shoulder first. It took a total of ten tries before he started a small amount of damage.

_Touch it. I'll try what I did with the bindings. _

Seven tries and nothing happened. Maybe the ties Jeremy had to the door weren't strong enough that I could affect it through him. I let out a sigh and sent him a message that I couldn't do anything and he should go back to brute forcing it.

I found my father. He was at the hospital with Jared. The boy was standing over my sister, a look of intense concentration over him as he muttered something under his breath. Tyler was no longer on the floor, instead he was fighting Katherine, his movements swift as he tried to hit her. But the woman was faster, weaving out of hits until she saw an opening and tackled into him, throwing him halfway through the room. Tyler landed on his feet, then lunged, eyes still glowing. He was caught by the witch who drew a line, Tyler suddenly jerked left and stuck to a wall.

Mr Lockwood took the chance as the woman was distracted. He jumped forward and grabbed the woman, holding her head in preparation for a snap. The woman looked scared. Mr Lockwood looked calmer by comparison. Exchanging words with Katherine. Katherine grinned, said something when Mr Lockwood was suddenly thrown back, losing his grasp on the woman.

Another witch, this one male, had appeared.

The witch said something and the other witch started a spell. I felt the thread form starting in my direction. Unlike the last time this had happened I was more knowledgeable. I cut the thread as it started. She started another, trying to track me off my own spell but again I stopped this. But I couldn't do this while my attention was elsewhere. I let go off watching the thread and looked at the dimensions of the room, building Lucy's boundary spell with an iteration of the spell.

I returned to the Tyler's thread and already there had been a change. Mr Lockwood, Katherine and the male witch were no longer in the room, while Mason and Jules were still on their knees, glaring towards the woman. The witches tried running a thread parallel my own and I didn't stop her. She would be stopped by the boundary spell.

Not much I could do there and I was already starting to figure out what she wanted. Feeling a pit of unease that she was doing. She must have planned well enough that she was doing it all at one time, not playing a long game that would eventually allow my _ability_ to give me the upper hand. It was smart. If she had waited any longer, I would have known she was after the Moonstone and made sure to have it on my side. The most worrying thing though was the fact that if she was moving this fast, then she must have already sent the message to Klaus about the deal.

No. She wouldn't have. She would first need to secure everything. Ensure that he couldn't get them until the deal was done. Maybe that was the reason she had the witches. They would cloak everything when she had it.

She still didn't have Elena though.

I wanted to check on my sister but it was prudent now to check on Elena first. They pair were pacing. Stefan and Elena both had their phones in hand, both with different messages.

_Bonnie? Jeremy? _Elena's said.

_Damon and Bree already on their way. Think this may be a trick on your part, will be acting solo. _

_Both relatively fine. Call Bree and tell her Katherine's gathering everything she needs for her bargain. Not a trick. I've got my priorities in order. _

I sent the thing and checked on my sister. She was awake and was taking a piece of paper from Jared. It appeared in front of me a second later.

_You're cloaked. Remove the boundary. _

I was surprised she knew the spell already. I removed the boundary spell and immediately felt the thread form. It was much faster and easier than I would have thought it might be, but then I noticed it. Bonnie wasn't linking Jared to me, she was hitching on the wave of power I received from the ancestors, further fortifying the thread stretching between us. Desperate times.

I checked on them again and the bed she had been sleeping on had been moved. Jared was putting candles in places while my dad was drawing a large circle, using his speed to make the entire process faster. The circle was double bordered, five circles within the border and a candle sitting inside. There was another circle in the centre, large enough that Jared was able to sit inside and there was one rigid line drawn from rigid to what I assumed was my direction.

Bonnie was standing behind Jared, arms extended and her eyes glazed white. She began the spell and immediately I felt as the thread stretching between myself and Jared begin to fortify.

While that still was going on I switched through everyone. Jeremy had escaped, finally, and we was moving through what looked like a maze of caves. I was hit by a memory and I couldn't help but think those caves would be a good base of operations. I knew how they had been designed. Some sort of boundary spell that kept out vampires and werewolves. Few people knew about them so they could be kept relatively secret.

He didn't look as though he was immediate danger so I switched images back to Stefan…I stopped as I realised something. I'd completely forgotten about Caroline. I found the thread and tracked her, anchoring to a line of blood. She was okay, safely pacing in her house with her father, his boyfriend, Steven, and Steven's daughter.

Caroline's dad stood and put his hands on Caroline's shoulder. The girl stopped and the broke into tears, falling into her father's chest. Steven and his daughter looked broken up by the entire thing.

I wasn't sure if the two knew but I didn't like that Caroline didn't know anything. The thread was strong enough that I could send a message.

_Everyone's relatively safe. Don't worry. We're working through all this. _

The paper appeared in front of her. Steven and his daughter looked a little surprised but that neither of them fainted showed they were at least informed.

I switched to Stefan and Elena…or that was to say Elena. I couldn't be sure how she had done it, but Elena had managed to get Stefan unconscious. I zoomed the image and I could see something in her hands, a small box. She moved. Headed for the door. I couldn't have that because I knew she was most definitely heading to the Lockwood Estate.

Using the thread. I broke both her legs before she could reach the doors.

This would be a game of stalemate. I couldn't have Katherine getting all the pieces she needed, even if Elena was feeling self-sacrificial. Cruel, yes, but necessary.

_STAY IN THE HOUSE!_

The last was for good measure.

I checked on the thread. It was slowly growing, about a quarter of the way to matching the thread between Bonnie and myself. Jeremy had found an opening and was above ground. The Salvatore place was a protected and I doubted he would be able to get in, safest place was the hospital. I sent him a piece of paper with the location in mind.

The forces were consolidating, which gave me a measure of ease. I started trying to think of what more I could do as I watched Jeremy running. He entered his house, finding his Aunt and Mr Fell there. The woman gave him a hug, saying words I couldn't hear and Jeremy said something quickly before rushing upstairs. In his room was Emily's grimoire.

_Protection spell. _

Jeremy quickly flipped through the pages and found a spell, but it was the same one Bonnie and I had used on Ben. It would require a sacrifice for it to protect Jeremy. I wasn't willing to go far. But there was another spell, I remembered, one my grandmother had used.

_Won't work. Search for Gram's grimoire. In Elena's room. _

Jeremy didn't hesitate. He found the grimoire and started flipping through it. I found the spell and I fell in love with it immediately. It was a minor boundary spell, but it was portable and wrapped around and individual. Of course this was more complicated than it looked. The more lines one had to focus on, the harder it was to draw a boundary. I had been practising on that front, drawing as many lines as I could with each boundary I cast. It had ultimately made drawing simple dimension very fast.

The problem with this spell was that it drew very small lines that contoured the human body. In bits and pieces it wasn't that much, but taken all together, never minding the fact that I was drawing a three dimensional figure. The spell was likely to give me a migraine than me completing it.

When we survived this, it was something I would look into.

That wouldn't work. Could I go simpler then? A Linking spell that made sure that one would live so long as the other lived? Binding us to each other?

_Won't work. Flip through pages. Ten seconds through page. I'll send the message stop when I find what I want. _

I sent the message, making a note with stop in case I needed it.

Jeremy hadn't moved one page when he stopped. He moved to the living room and Mr Fell was ready with a phone. Jeremy wrote something down and waited. I put more power into the image and zoomed.

_Going to hospital. We need to be together. _

_Okay, _I returned.

When he left, Mr Fell was also moving. Jenna in his arms. The pair started at the Salvatore Boarding House. The vampires couldn't enter but Jenna made her way in. I switched images. Elena's legs had healed and Stefan was awake, the box in hand. Jenna rushed to Elena to give her a hug.

I couldn't help but note how awesome it would be right now if the paper thing had already panned out. I would be able to lock Elena in while allow Stefan to be able to move. He was the oldest vampire in town at the moment and it would help to have him on outside.

They had the same idea. I switched images as Stefan stepped outside. Speaking with Jeremy and Mr Fell. I noticed Jeremy frowned. Stefan said something before he gestured at the box. Mr Fell said something and Jeremy nodded. Stefan didn't return to the house. He moved off and I couldn't follow him. Jeremy gave the grimoire a glance before he went at the houses boundary and slid the thing inside.

_Stefan's going to try and take down Katherine with box, _Jeremy wrote. _Have to stay here in case someone tries to get Elena. _

I couldn't refute that. I hated that I couldn't find Stefan, but I trusted he was smart enough that he would achieve what he was doing.

I switched to thread Bonnie was completing and it was halfway done. I turned to the image and my father had his phone to his ear, saying a few words. I changed to Tyler and found that all of them were just waiting. The male witch was gone. Whether really gone or cloaked I couldn't be too sure.

Stefan arrived just as the spell was completed, entering the image as Bonnie slumped with fatigue. Jared acted, grabbing his phone and holding it between his hands. He muttered a spell and the phone suddenly appeared in front of me.

A second and it rang. I put it on loud speaker.

"Micah?" my father said. "Are you alright? Where are you?"

"I'm fine," I said. The phone wasn't in his ear instead it looked as though everyone could hear. "I'm not sure where I am but I don't think that matters now. Jeremy wrote you had a plan."

"Yes," said Stefan. "When I get close enough I'm going to use the box. It will incapacitate everyone with heightened senses in the area for a five block range. Your father will be outside that range and he'll take Katherine out. She's still at the Lockwood place?"

I checked. "Yes. She's waiting, I'm thinking Elena?"

"She called her. Told her that she activated Tyler and he was already degrading. That he needed her blood to survive." His tone was terse as he didn't mention what I had done.

"Okay. Makes it a little easier. She has two witches with her, possibly. One of them can turn invisible."

"I know the counter spell to that," said Bonnie. "I'll have to come too." My father's brow furrowed but he said nothing.

"You should probably wait for Damon and Bree," I said. "They'll be help. I don't know how powerful these witches are."

"They're five minutes away," said Stefan. "I told them about the plan and they'll be just outside the range."

"Good luck, then," I said. "And Jared. Thanks for the help, but I'd prefer it if you protected yourself. I don't need you brother planning to murder me in my sleep."

"On it, boss," the boy said. He was casting a boundary spell as the others left.

The plan changed in transit. Dad was the one carrying in the device. He ran for the Lockwood Estate and then opened the box only to immediately drop it, his hands clutching at his head. I switched images and the same could be said in the house. Everyone except the witch was screaming in pain. She began speaking a spell but I couldn't see its effect.

I shifted to Bonnie and she was with Stefan, Damon and Bree. Time passed before the quartet moved forward only to meet a boundary. Bree said something and Bonnie grabbed her hand, the two began a spell and brute-forced the boundary. They entered, Stefan and Damon rushing forward only for the witch to say a spell, throwing the two towards a wall and making them stick in place.

Bree jerked her finger and whatever was sticking the pair to the wall let them go. Stefan rushed forward but stopped as the witch directed a hand his way—Bonnie said a spell and threw a heap of salt in the air, the salt spread through the room but nothing happened—Bree said a spell and the witch heaved. Her spell faltering. Damon was behind and he lunged, catching the woman and pinning her in place.

The witch screamed and there was a blast of fire enough to push every one of their feet. The woman was quick to gather herself. She muttered a spell and flickered, disappearing before she appeared again, looking confused.

Bonnie was on her feet and she was saying a spell, hands held at her side and a scary expression on her features. A circle of fire appeared and the woman shrieked, skirting back. She said a spell and the fires dimmed only to erupted back into life, higher than they had been before. Bonnie began walking forward, still reciting an incantation. It looked as though the witch couldn't breathe. Her hands clutched at her throat before she fell on the floor.

The fire stopped as though it hadn't been there in the first place.

Bonnie looked a little scared, so did Stefan for that matter. Damon and Bree though looked impressed.

Stefan moved forward and took something in Katherine's hand. He frowned hard as he looked at the phone. I zoomed in and I felt my stomach plunge as I read the message.

_Pearl: Broke through the spells. Got her. _

_You: Good. Everything's moving smoothly. _

_You: Things turned bad. Contact Klaus. ASAP._


	41. Chapter 41

AN: Been trying to continue with this story for the longest time but I've found that I can't with the current format. I really like interlude because they give us the story from another's perspective, giving freedom to make the universe broader. Something particularly hard when writing in first person.

There's already forty chapters in this story with only one interlude—which seems out of place when I look at it—so I've chosen to start a new story, though in all honesty it's a continuation for just beyond this point in this story.

I really didn't want to have to rewrite the entire thing as I'm doing with my other stories. Here's an excerpt of that story's first chapter:

1-01

There was a knock on my door and for a moment I started, feeling my heart beating faster before I calmed myself. The first night back and there was still the effect that the walls were closing around on me, that a witch of sufficient power could unravel the work I'd done and get at me. After all, it had been proven before that even with my knowledge I still wasn't powerful enough.

Another knock interrupted me from my thoughts.

"Come in," I said and at the phrase the Boundary spell in my room flickered, turning momentarily off before they would come on again. With a sense of objectivity I knew that it was paranoid—it was most likely that everyone around me knew too—but I had been kidnapped a total of two times in the same year so my paranoia was deserved.

The door opened and Bonnie walked in. There was a look about here, a sadness in her eyes that she was clearly trying to hide. For my benefit, no doubt, so I wouldn't say anything against it. She gave me a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and I did the same.

Silently she walked into the room and sat on the bed beside me, her head leaning against my shoulder. She let out a sigh.

"Everyone misses you," she said. I said nothing in replied. "He's trying not to show it, but I think Enzo misses you too. From what I heard he refused leaving on the trip that Damon and…" She stopped as she felt my body clench. "That Damon is leaving on."

Bonnie let out a breath. "I miss you too, you know. They you that was sort of annoying in that he wanted to do as much with magic as possible. They you that wanted to change the world."


End file.
